Post by Sophie on Dec 17, 2020 4:56:44 GMT -5
The cold winds that blew through the winter marshlands made Field Marshal Kanzaki Eruza feel at home. Though personally, she preferred snow to the freezing rain that was buffeting her face. The howling wind and thunder did provide an excellent cover for the mission she had planned. Eruza had been tasked with dealing with the Greatferns for over three months now, and she had very little to show for it. Thankfully she had a recent break. One of the greatferns that had been captured sang like a bird. A location of a local headquarters had now been revealed to them. She had been planning the takedown for the better part of a month. The Empress was breathing down her neck, expecting to hit serious pay dirt from the raid.
Eruza didn't let the nerves get to her. She shook off any anxiety she was feeling and began wrapping up her bedroll. Eruza was a tall and muscly Kumo. Standing at 7'5" with good posture. Her exoskeleton was that of an Ivory Ornamental spider. The hairs on all eight of her legs stood on end relaying a mass of sensory information: humidity, wind speed, temperature, and even variances in odors in the air. She and her team finished packing up their rucks. This was the third day they had been observing the compound they would raid. The team assembled before the Field Marshal to go over her plan with the new information they had gathered.
The team consisted of the Field Marshal herself and a dozen Kumo marines. Sergeant: Ozaki Aoi, Corporals: Arata Kamiko, and Ouchi Ayumi, Lance Corporals: Minamoto Yuko, Iwai Yumi, and Hiraoka Mana, and Specialists: Machi Chiyo, Shimamoto Masuyo, Nakashima Kyo, Kawakami Hanako, No Kimiko, and Muto Manami. Their equipment was fairly standard for a marine squad. Everyone had a knife, pistol, and two grenades. One person was equipped with a sniper rifle, the rest either had a standard rifle or a submachine gun. Most importantly, they carried with them a handful of timed explosives.
"Alright ladies." Eruza began. "Lets go over this one more time. The artillery barrage will begin at exactly 0500 hours. That means we have four hours to finish our prep work. From our scouting we know that there should be four guards patrolling the premises. We need to take them down quietly and loot their bodies for any important intel. Then we'll meet up at the outer perimeter of the fortress. We'll plant 5 explosive charges all set to go off exacly two minutes after the artillery bombardment begins. Kamiko-kas will be providing overwatch with her rifle. She'll make sure to take out any strays that wander out of the complex while we're getting ready. We'll divide ourselves into three teams, Yuko, Chiyo, and Manami will go with me. Yumi, Masuyo, and Kyo will go with Sergeant Aoi. The rest of you will go with Corporal Ayumi. Each of the team leads know which exploded entrance you'll be using. The other two will serve purely as diversions. Once you're inside everything that has less than eight legs is a valid target. If it's possible to take anyone alive do so. We need a win here ladies. I'm counting on all of you. Is everyone clear on the plan?"
A resounding, "Yes ma'am." answered her. Eruza smiled and nodded. "Perfect. I will be working as a spotter for Kamiko-kas while the assigned members take out the patrols. Keep a low profile and only use your firearm if you absolutely have to. Keep an ear on your radios. I'll be providing updates on the guards locations. Aoi, Ayumi, Yuko, Mana. Get to work." Eruza and Kamiko began climbing up to their elevated positions to provide overwatch.
Sergeant Aoi's target was the furthest from their current position. She quickly took off ducking between the trees. She was able to move quickly and easily through the marsh, the ends of her legs were too small to get caught up in the muck. She had been trained for work in exactly this terrain. She'd been dreaming of becoming a marine ever since her mother told her stories of the fifth great staol war. She smiled as she ran through vines, mud, and other vegetation. The rain slammed into her face and thunder boomed in the distance. This is what she lived for. It didn't take her long to get into position. She pulled her clunky radio out of her backpack and placed it to her ear. "Sergeant Aoi, in position and awaiting orders." Her radio was set to the lowest possible volume, so she had to focus to tune out the wind, rain, and thunder. "Copy Aoi. -our target is - feet north and 17 feet --st of your current pos---n." Well shit. She didn't dare ask again. At most the target was about 18 feet away from her. She was crouched deep in the brush and didn't dare peek out and reveal herself. She thought about the odd specificity of the information she received. Why wouldn't they just say northeast or northwest. I'd bet anything the patrol is facing away from the second direction they gave me. Alright. Lets move.
Aoi began crawling through the brush going due north. She hoped she'd run into some sign of the patrol that would let her know when to turn. A cigarette. Score. It was still lit. She checked her left and right. It was obvious the patrol had gone west. The vegetation was padded down and his foot prints pressed into the mud. She slowly crawled in his direction, making sure to be as silent as possible. After peeling through some particularly thick grass she saw him. A guard standing, smoking. Facing her head on. She didn't panic, nor did she hesitate. She launched out of the marsh and tackled him. Fear was plastered on his face as each of his limbs were pinned to the muddy ground with a massive spider leg. She grinned at her prey and placed a hand over his mouth to ensure he couldn't scream. Slowly she pulled up her knife to his throat and whispered a quick. "Shhhhhh." Before pressing the knife into his throat. He gurgled into her hand as his throat and lungs filled with his own blood. She kept a sturdy pin on his limbs and mouth until she watched the life completely drain from his eyes. Just to be sure she pulled the knife out of his throat and plunged it into his heart.
With her primary objective completed she began searching his body. There wasn't much. A knife, an ancient rifle with loose ammo, and a key. She took the key and pocketed it. The body wasn't exactly concealed so Aoi decided to bury it in a thick swamp of mud. She took off, heading for the assigned meeting point. Surprisingly, she was the first of the four to return to the rest of the squad. Eruza stared at Aoi for a moment, somewhat in disbelief. "Aoi.. Your face is covered in blood." Aoi was confused. She tilted her head and asked. "And? I don't see how that affects my ability to perform my duties." Eruza shrugged and looked back to the rest of the team. It wasn't long before everyone had returned. Thankfully there were no casualties. "Alright. We've got exactly forty-five minutes. Set your timers on the explosives accordingly. We need these to go off simultaniously and exactly two minutes after the artillery begins."
As instructed the groups split off. Eruza's team was assigned the extra diversionary explosives. They planted the first set of explosives right next to what they believed to be the entrance of the bunker. Quickly they moved up the west wall planting the second set of diversionary explosives half way up. They reached the north wall and moved up to an outcropping they believed to be the commanding officer's office. Aoi's team posted up by the south east corner of the bunker. Ayumi's team posted up between two outcroppings on the east wall.
Each team, after planting their explosives, backed up fifty yards. Enough distance to not be harmed by the explosives, but not so far back that they couldn't enter the building as quick as possible. The next twenty minutes were eerily silent. If you put aside the wind, rain, and thunder. The marines sat in the mud subconsciously counting seconds to the explosives timers. Time seemed to slow down. The rain drops would hang in the air for minutes at a time. Finally, in the long distance booming could be heard as Kumosenkan artillery fired in the distance. The shells could be heard detonating some time later. As the second set of rounds artillery began firing four of the five explosives set detonated. Eruza cursed. She could see what explosives were mistimed. Ayumi's. It was a full thirty seconds before the lagging explosives finally detonated.
Corporal Ayumi bit her tongue when she noticed every explosive but hers detonate. She spoke under her breath. "No. I swear I set those right. Please don't tell me they're duds." Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched Aoi's team sprint for their opening. "Come on. Come on." One of the specialists spoke up. "Corporal! We need to go with the back up plan and back up Ser-" She was cut off by Ayumi's explosives detonating. Ayumi couldn't hold back a quiet celebration. "Yes!" She stood dragging herself out of the mud and unslung her submachine gun. "Let's go let's go!" She barked at her squad. They all quickly took off in a full sprint towards the compound. Ayumi peeked over at the entrance Aoi had created and saw rapid flashes of light as they engaged the enemy. Before she could refocus on her own entrance she heard the crack of Kamiko's sniper rifle. A greatfern fell off the roof with a bullet in it's skull. Finally her team reached the entrance.
It was dark. She raised her submachinegun and flicked the light on. Three greatferns lay dead from the explosion. Aside from them, and the rubble the hallway they had blown open was completely empty. Ayumi ordered two riflemen to watch the west end of the hallway as her and the other submachine gunner posted up by a doorway to the north. Ayumi held a grenade in her hand, and the specialist Kimiko had her hand on the door. Kimiko flung open the door and Ayumi quickly tossed the primed grenade in. Both took cover and waited for the explosion. The second it went off the two swung from behind cover and used their flashlights to illuminate the room. It was a large dining area. There were six large community dining tables that could each sit ten people. Two bodies laid on the floor, and two others had flipped a table to use it as cover and opened fire on the open doorway. Ayumi and Kimiko planted themselves behind cover again.
The incoming fire was slow. "Bolt actions!" Ayumi quickly called out. "Five round clips. Count it out and return fire!" Bang bang! "That's two!" Bang.... bang! "Three!" Bang! The bullet whizzed through the thin wooden walls about an inch away from Ayumi's skull. She was dazed for a moment, but quickly regained herself. Bang. Four, she nodded at the specialist and they both raised their weapons. BangBang! "NOW!" Ayumi again swung out from cover and opened fire on the flipped over table. Completely riddling it with bullets. Kimiko did the same. They chewed through their magazines in a matter of seconds. The table was obliterated. They ceased fire and began reloading while scanning the room for any additional threats. Ayumi took a quick sigh of relief to see nothing else in the room was moving. She slid a fresh magazine into her submachinegun's magwell when another Bang was heard. A new hole appeared in the table. A bullet flew straight through it and embedded itself inside Specialist Kimiko. Ayumi was quick to respond. Sprinting over to the table she saw two bodies though through the red fog she couldn't tell if either were dead. She slammed the bolt release on her weapon and unleashed a hailstorm of ammunition onto the two bodies. She didn't stop until her weapon went click. She took quick deep breaths and examined the bodies. They were dead now.
"HANAKO!" She screamed. "FIRST AID NOW." One of the rifler's posted in the hallway sprinted into the room and overlooked Ayumi, when she realized her commander was fine she turned to Kimiko who was now sat on the floor clutching her shoulder. Hanako quickly threw down her ruck sack next to Kimiko and examined the wound so she could attempt to treat it. Ayumi wandered to the other two bodies that were laying on the floor and drew her pistol. She fired twice, placing rounds in the skulls of the two bodies not wanting to risk them surviving.
Aoi rolled her eyes as she took off sprinting for her entrance. "Of course Ayumi didn't time it right. Why am I surprised?" She mumbled to herself. Her team quickly descended on the entrance the explosive made. "Root out every last one of these terrorists!" She barked and lit a flare tossing it inside, illuminating the room in a flashing red light. Her squad drew their weapons and ignited the flashlights attached to them. It was a bunk room. There were three dozen people dazed and staggering, trying to get their bearings. Some were holding handguns while others were covering their eyes from the blinding flare. Aoi was the first to begin shooting. She wielded a semi-automatic rifle with a twenty round magazine. Her vision fixated on the soldiers that were armed and fired a round into the first person she saw holding a gun. Her squad was quick to follow. The two with submachine guns released a flurry of bullets onto anyone they set their sights on, while Aoi and the other riflewoman picked off selective targets.
It was a mop up. The greatferns were taken completely by surprise. It was over in seconds. Thirty six souls Aoi's team dispatched of. They moved towards a door that they assumed would lead them to the entrance hallway. A corpse was laying against it. Aoi began to shove the body aside when it suddenly lurched and grabbed onto her. Before she could react, there was a knife in her torso. Aoi screamed in a mix of pain and fury. Without thinking she bit the man's neck. Her fangs broke the soldier's skin instantly and began injecting neurotoxin into his system. The man fainted and let go of the knife. Aoi drew her own knife. Quickly and furiously she drove the blade into the man repeatedly. Starting with his gut, and moving up inch by inch until she stabbed him in the neck. She fell back, collapsing to the floor.
"Sergeant Aoi!" Specialist Kyo ran up to her. "I'm fine!" Aoi spat back. "Check the rest of these terrorists and make sure they're all dead. If they're not, poison them so we can capture them properly. Then clear the rest of the compound and meet up with everyone else. Then come check on me. Specialist Kyo hesitated until Aoi snarled at her. "Yes Ma'am." The squad checked all of the bodies in the room. Thirty-Three of them were dead. Two were severely wounded and would die soon. The last, was hiding pretending to be dead. Kyo was the one who found him. She didn't bother poisoning him for capture. He was clearly just some lowly soldier. She fired a single round into his skull.
Eruza and her team bolted for the detonated entrance. The room they revealed was small. The blast made it a mess of rubble and dust. Three men were inside. One in each corner and one pushed up against the door. The two in the corner had varying degrees of rubble pinning them to the ground. Upon seeing the state of the men inside Eruza and the team cautiously walked inside. All three of the men were unconscious. Eruza approached the man pinned to the door. Half of his chest is covered in copper medals. "Yeah this guy is definitely important." She leant down and bit his neck. Her fangs pierced deep, injecting her neurotoxin directly into his bloodstream. "That should keep him down long enough to get him to the forward operating base. You two." She pointed at two of her marines. "Do the same to them if they're still alive." The marines did as ordered and checked for a pulse before injecting them with venom.
It took some work to move aside all the rubble blocking the doorway. They opened it up to the darkened dining area. Ayumi’s team was all present and were working on patching up the wounded specialist. Half of Aoi’s team was also present. Lance Corporal Yumi approached the Field Marshal. “Ma’am! Compound is secure and all threats have been neutralized. Not including that office we’ve confirmed forty-seven terrorists dead. We’ve sustained only two casualties on our end. Specialist Kimiko took a bullet to the shoulder and Sergeant Aoi was stabbed in the gut. Specialist Kyo is currently tending to Sergeant Aoi and said that she should be fine if we get her back to the FOB ASAP.”
“Great work everyone. Once Aoi and Kimiko are ready to move let's get out of here as quickly as possible. The territorials and artillery divisions are working hard to provide us a distraction, but who knows how long until a patrol comes this way. I don’t want us getting caught in another firefight.” Eruza walked up to Kimiko and looked down on her. “How are you holding up marine? Can you move?”
Kimiko was shaking, but she stood. Her legs were slightly quivering under her own weight but her face was steadfast. “Yes ma’am. I’m good to go as soon as Sergeant Aoi is.”
“I’m glad to hear it marine. I’ll go check on her now.” Eruza left the room and headed for where she knew Aoi’s entry point was. She walked into the once bunk room, now mass grave. Kyo was still treating Aoi’s wound. She had removed the knife and properly stanched and bandaged the wound. “How are you feeling, sergeant?”
“Just dandy ma’am.” She spat through gritted teeth. “I haven’t felt this good since my wedding day.”
Kyo was slightly taken aback. “Y- you’re married?!”
“It’s an expression Kyo.”
Eruza coughed. “Right. Kyo you’re going to have to carry Aoi with me. We need to get out of here asap. I don’t want do deal with anymore greatferns than we have already. I’ll get her back legs, you get her fore.”
“Yes ma’am. I can’t wait to sleep in a real bed.” Kyo hoisted Aoi’s legs with Eruza and brought her into the dining room. “Ma’am do you think we could break one of these tables down and use it as a makeshift gurney?”
Eruza looked at the table and frowned. “No. We don’t have the tools or the time. We need to be out of here yesterday. Come on everyone we’re going now.” Eruza ensured she had a solid grip on Aoi and nodded to Kyo.
The squad began moving as quickly as possible away from the compound, careful not to make a beeline out of greatfern territory. To them, it would seem as if the spirits answered their prayers and guided them quickly and safely back to the Kumosenkan forward operating base. On the way Aoi had passed out, but Kimiko was still holding strong. They got them both into the field hospital and their treatment began by actual medical professionals.
One of the younger men in the FOB approached Eruza. “Ex- excuse me ma’am. I can’t imagine how exhausted you are but I’m afraid you have immediate orders from the web of logistics. You’re to report to the Pactstei Grand Hotel as soon as possible. You have a meeting with an Elenrian general to review new firearms their armory has developed.”
Eruza sighed and smiled. “A night in a nice hotel, paid for by the government? All to stand around and say that some guns are fine? Sounds like a plan to me”
The man turned over a page and spoke up again. “A- actually ma’am you’re supposed to bring a few soldiers with you. The web wants the weapons tested properly and thoroughly. Apparently we’ve invested quite a lot in the new armories and we need to make sure the investment is paying off.”
“Right.” Eruza paused. “I wish I could take Aoi-kas with me. She’s forgotten more about firearms than I’ll ever know.” She took a few beats to think. “Alright. Kamiko, Kyo, Ayumi, aaaaand Yumi! You four are coming with me to stay in a nice hotel for a night and testing firearms in the morning. Room service is on me.” The women she called out were clearly exhausted but they nodded and agreed. None of them were about to turn down free food and a warm bed. The five women climbed into an armored car and a private began driving them towards the assigned hotel.
Eruza didn't let the nerves get to her. She shook off any anxiety she was feeling and began wrapping up her bedroll. Eruza was a tall and muscly Kumo. Standing at 7'5" with good posture. Her exoskeleton was that of an Ivory Ornamental spider. The hairs on all eight of her legs stood on end relaying a mass of sensory information: humidity, wind speed, temperature, and even variances in odors in the air. She and her team finished packing up their rucks. This was the third day they had been observing the compound they would raid. The team assembled before the Field Marshal to go over her plan with the new information they had gathered.
The team consisted of the Field Marshal herself and a dozen Kumo marines. Sergeant: Ozaki Aoi, Corporals: Arata Kamiko, and Ouchi Ayumi, Lance Corporals: Minamoto Yuko, Iwai Yumi, and Hiraoka Mana, and Specialists: Machi Chiyo, Shimamoto Masuyo, Nakashima Kyo, Kawakami Hanako, No Kimiko, and Muto Manami. Their equipment was fairly standard for a marine squad. Everyone had a knife, pistol, and two grenades. One person was equipped with a sniper rifle, the rest either had a standard rifle or a submachine gun. Most importantly, they carried with them a handful of timed explosives.
"Alright ladies." Eruza began. "Lets go over this one more time. The artillery barrage will begin at exactly 0500 hours. That means we have four hours to finish our prep work. From our scouting we know that there should be four guards patrolling the premises. We need to take them down quietly and loot their bodies for any important intel. Then we'll meet up at the outer perimeter of the fortress. We'll plant 5 explosive charges all set to go off exacly two minutes after the artillery bombardment begins. Kamiko-kas will be providing overwatch with her rifle. She'll make sure to take out any strays that wander out of the complex while we're getting ready. We'll divide ourselves into three teams, Yuko, Chiyo, and Manami will go with me. Yumi, Masuyo, and Kyo will go with Sergeant Aoi. The rest of you will go with Corporal Ayumi. Each of the team leads know which exploded entrance you'll be using. The other two will serve purely as diversions. Once you're inside everything that has less than eight legs is a valid target. If it's possible to take anyone alive do so. We need a win here ladies. I'm counting on all of you. Is everyone clear on the plan?"
A resounding, "Yes ma'am." answered her. Eruza smiled and nodded. "Perfect. I will be working as a spotter for Kamiko-kas while the assigned members take out the patrols. Keep a low profile and only use your firearm if you absolutely have to. Keep an ear on your radios. I'll be providing updates on the guards locations. Aoi, Ayumi, Yuko, Mana. Get to work." Eruza and Kamiko began climbing up to their elevated positions to provide overwatch.
Sergeant Aoi's target was the furthest from their current position. She quickly took off ducking between the trees. She was able to move quickly and easily through the marsh, the ends of her legs were too small to get caught up in the muck. She had been trained for work in exactly this terrain. She'd been dreaming of becoming a marine ever since her mother told her stories of the fifth great staol war. She smiled as she ran through vines, mud, and other vegetation. The rain slammed into her face and thunder boomed in the distance. This is what she lived for. It didn't take her long to get into position. She pulled her clunky radio out of her backpack and placed it to her ear. "Sergeant Aoi, in position and awaiting orders." Her radio was set to the lowest possible volume, so she had to focus to tune out the wind, rain, and thunder. "Copy Aoi. -our target is - feet north and 17 feet --st of your current pos---n." Well shit. She didn't dare ask again. At most the target was about 18 feet away from her. She was crouched deep in the brush and didn't dare peek out and reveal herself. She thought about the odd specificity of the information she received. Why wouldn't they just say northeast or northwest. I'd bet anything the patrol is facing away from the second direction they gave me. Alright. Lets move.
Aoi began crawling through the brush going due north. She hoped she'd run into some sign of the patrol that would let her know when to turn. A cigarette. Score. It was still lit. She checked her left and right. It was obvious the patrol had gone west. The vegetation was padded down and his foot prints pressed into the mud. She slowly crawled in his direction, making sure to be as silent as possible. After peeling through some particularly thick grass she saw him. A guard standing, smoking. Facing her head on. She didn't panic, nor did she hesitate. She launched out of the marsh and tackled him. Fear was plastered on his face as each of his limbs were pinned to the muddy ground with a massive spider leg. She grinned at her prey and placed a hand over his mouth to ensure he couldn't scream. Slowly she pulled up her knife to his throat and whispered a quick. "Shhhhhh." Before pressing the knife into his throat. He gurgled into her hand as his throat and lungs filled with his own blood. She kept a sturdy pin on his limbs and mouth until she watched the life completely drain from his eyes. Just to be sure she pulled the knife out of his throat and plunged it into his heart.
With her primary objective completed she began searching his body. There wasn't much. A knife, an ancient rifle with loose ammo, and a key. She took the key and pocketed it. The body wasn't exactly concealed so Aoi decided to bury it in a thick swamp of mud. She took off, heading for the assigned meeting point. Surprisingly, she was the first of the four to return to the rest of the squad. Eruza stared at Aoi for a moment, somewhat in disbelief. "Aoi.. Your face is covered in blood." Aoi was confused. She tilted her head and asked. "And? I don't see how that affects my ability to perform my duties." Eruza shrugged and looked back to the rest of the team. It wasn't long before everyone had returned. Thankfully there were no casualties. "Alright. We've got exactly forty-five minutes. Set your timers on the explosives accordingly. We need these to go off simultaniously and exactly two minutes after the artillery begins."
As instructed the groups split off. Eruza's team was assigned the extra diversionary explosives. They planted the first set of explosives right next to what they believed to be the entrance of the bunker. Quickly they moved up the west wall planting the second set of diversionary explosives half way up. They reached the north wall and moved up to an outcropping they believed to be the commanding officer's office. Aoi's team posted up by the south east corner of the bunker. Ayumi's team posted up between two outcroppings on the east wall.
Each team, after planting their explosives, backed up fifty yards. Enough distance to not be harmed by the explosives, but not so far back that they couldn't enter the building as quick as possible. The next twenty minutes were eerily silent. If you put aside the wind, rain, and thunder. The marines sat in the mud subconsciously counting seconds to the explosives timers. Time seemed to slow down. The rain drops would hang in the air for minutes at a time. Finally, in the long distance booming could be heard as Kumosenkan artillery fired in the distance. The shells could be heard detonating some time later. As the second set of rounds artillery began firing four of the five explosives set detonated. Eruza cursed. She could see what explosives were mistimed. Ayumi's. It was a full thirty seconds before the lagging explosives finally detonated.
--Ayumi--
Corporal Ayumi bit her tongue when she noticed every explosive but hers detonate. She spoke under her breath. "No. I swear I set those right. Please don't tell me they're duds." Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched Aoi's team sprint for their opening. "Come on. Come on." One of the specialists spoke up. "Corporal! We need to go with the back up plan and back up Ser-" She was cut off by Ayumi's explosives detonating. Ayumi couldn't hold back a quiet celebration. "Yes!" She stood dragging herself out of the mud and unslung her submachine gun. "Let's go let's go!" She barked at her squad. They all quickly took off in a full sprint towards the compound. Ayumi peeked over at the entrance Aoi had created and saw rapid flashes of light as they engaged the enemy. Before she could refocus on her own entrance she heard the crack of Kamiko's sniper rifle. A greatfern fell off the roof with a bullet in it's skull. Finally her team reached the entrance.
It was dark. She raised her submachinegun and flicked the light on. Three greatferns lay dead from the explosion. Aside from them, and the rubble the hallway they had blown open was completely empty. Ayumi ordered two riflemen to watch the west end of the hallway as her and the other submachine gunner posted up by a doorway to the north. Ayumi held a grenade in her hand, and the specialist Kimiko had her hand on the door. Kimiko flung open the door and Ayumi quickly tossed the primed grenade in. Both took cover and waited for the explosion. The second it went off the two swung from behind cover and used their flashlights to illuminate the room. It was a large dining area. There were six large community dining tables that could each sit ten people. Two bodies laid on the floor, and two others had flipped a table to use it as cover and opened fire on the open doorway. Ayumi and Kimiko planted themselves behind cover again.
The incoming fire was slow. "Bolt actions!" Ayumi quickly called out. "Five round clips. Count it out and return fire!" Bang bang! "That's two!" Bang.... bang! "Three!" Bang! The bullet whizzed through the thin wooden walls about an inch away from Ayumi's skull. She was dazed for a moment, but quickly regained herself. Bang. Four, she nodded at the specialist and they both raised their weapons. BangBang! "NOW!" Ayumi again swung out from cover and opened fire on the flipped over table. Completely riddling it with bullets. Kimiko did the same. They chewed through their magazines in a matter of seconds. The table was obliterated. They ceased fire and began reloading while scanning the room for any additional threats. Ayumi took a quick sigh of relief to see nothing else in the room was moving. She slid a fresh magazine into her submachinegun's magwell when another Bang was heard. A new hole appeared in the table. A bullet flew straight through it and embedded itself inside Specialist Kimiko. Ayumi was quick to respond. Sprinting over to the table she saw two bodies though through the red fog she couldn't tell if either were dead. She slammed the bolt release on her weapon and unleashed a hailstorm of ammunition onto the two bodies. She didn't stop until her weapon went click. She took quick deep breaths and examined the bodies. They were dead now.
"HANAKO!" She screamed. "FIRST AID NOW." One of the rifler's posted in the hallway sprinted into the room and overlooked Ayumi, when she realized her commander was fine she turned to Kimiko who was now sat on the floor clutching her shoulder. Hanako quickly threw down her ruck sack next to Kimiko and examined the wound so she could attempt to treat it. Ayumi wandered to the other two bodies that were laying on the floor and drew her pistol. She fired twice, placing rounds in the skulls of the two bodies not wanting to risk them surviving.
--Aoi--
Aoi rolled her eyes as she took off sprinting for her entrance. "Of course Ayumi didn't time it right. Why am I surprised?" She mumbled to herself. Her team quickly descended on the entrance the explosive made. "Root out every last one of these terrorists!" She barked and lit a flare tossing it inside, illuminating the room in a flashing red light. Her squad drew their weapons and ignited the flashlights attached to them. It was a bunk room. There were three dozen people dazed and staggering, trying to get their bearings. Some were holding handguns while others were covering their eyes from the blinding flare. Aoi was the first to begin shooting. She wielded a semi-automatic rifle with a twenty round magazine. Her vision fixated on the soldiers that were armed and fired a round into the first person she saw holding a gun. Her squad was quick to follow. The two with submachine guns released a flurry of bullets onto anyone they set their sights on, while Aoi and the other riflewoman picked off selective targets.
It was a mop up. The greatferns were taken completely by surprise. It was over in seconds. Thirty six souls Aoi's team dispatched of. They moved towards a door that they assumed would lead them to the entrance hallway. A corpse was laying against it. Aoi began to shove the body aside when it suddenly lurched and grabbed onto her. Before she could react, there was a knife in her torso. Aoi screamed in a mix of pain and fury. Without thinking she bit the man's neck. Her fangs broke the soldier's skin instantly and began injecting neurotoxin into his system. The man fainted and let go of the knife. Aoi drew her own knife. Quickly and furiously she drove the blade into the man repeatedly. Starting with his gut, and moving up inch by inch until she stabbed him in the neck. She fell back, collapsing to the floor.
"Sergeant Aoi!" Specialist Kyo ran up to her. "I'm fine!" Aoi spat back. "Check the rest of these terrorists and make sure they're all dead. If they're not, poison them so we can capture them properly. Then clear the rest of the compound and meet up with everyone else. Then come check on me. Specialist Kyo hesitated until Aoi snarled at her. "Yes Ma'am." The squad checked all of the bodies in the room. Thirty-Three of them were dead. Two were severely wounded and would die soon. The last, was hiding pretending to be dead. Kyo was the one who found him. She didn't bother poisoning him for capture. He was clearly just some lowly soldier. She fired a single round into his skull.
--Eruza--
Eruza and her team bolted for the detonated entrance. The room they revealed was small. The blast made it a mess of rubble and dust. Three men were inside. One in each corner and one pushed up against the door. The two in the corner had varying degrees of rubble pinning them to the ground. Upon seeing the state of the men inside Eruza and the team cautiously walked inside. All three of the men were unconscious. Eruza approached the man pinned to the door. Half of his chest is covered in copper medals. "Yeah this guy is definitely important." She leant down and bit his neck. Her fangs pierced deep, injecting her neurotoxin directly into his bloodstream. "That should keep him down long enough to get him to the forward operating base. You two." She pointed at two of her marines. "Do the same to them if they're still alive." The marines did as ordered and checked for a pulse before injecting them with venom.
It took some work to move aside all the rubble blocking the doorway. They opened it up to the darkened dining area. Ayumi’s team was all present and were working on patching up the wounded specialist. Half of Aoi’s team was also present. Lance Corporal Yumi approached the Field Marshal. “Ma’am! Compound is secure and all threats have been neutralized. Not including that office we’ve confirmed forty-seven terrorists dead. We’ve sustained only two casualties on our end. Specialist Kimiko took a bullet to the shoulder and Sergeant Aoi was stabbed in the gut. Specialist Kyo is currently tending to Sergeant Aoi and said that she should be fine if we get her back to the FOB ASAP.”
“Great work everyone. Once Aoi and Kimiko are ready to move let's get out of here as quickly as possible. The territorials and artillery divisions are working hard to provide us a distraction, but who knows how long until a patrol comes this way. I don’t want us getting caught in another firefight.” Eruza walked up to Kimiko and looked down on her. “How are you holding up marine? Can you move?”
Kimiko was shaking, but she stood. Her legs were slightly quivering under her own weight but her face was steadfast. “Yes ma’am. I’m good to go as soon as Sergeant Aoi is.”
“I’m glad to hear it marine. I’ll go check on her now.” Eruza left the room and headed for where she knew Aoi’s entry point was. She walked into the once bunk room, now mass grave. Kyo was still treating Aoi’s wound. She had removed the knife and properly stanched and bandaged the wound. “How are you feeling, sergeant?”
“Just dandy ma’am.” She spat through gritted teeth. “I haven’t felt this good since my wedding day.”
Kyo was slightly taken aback. “Y- you’re married?!”
“It’s an expression Kyo.”
Eruza coughed. “Right. Kyo you’re going to have to carry Aoi with me. We need to get out of here asap. I don’t want do deal with anymore greatferns than we have already. I’ll get her back legs, you get her fore.”
“Yes ma’am. I can’t wait to sleep in a real bed.” Kyo hoisted Aoi’s legs with Eruza and brought her into the dining room. “Ma’am do you think we could break one of these tables down and use it as a makeshift gurney?”
Eruza looked at the table and frowned. “No. We don’t have the tools or the time. We need to be out of here yesterday. Come on everyone we’re going now.” Eruza ensured she had a solid grip on Aoi and nodded to Kyo.
The squad began moving as quickly as possible away from the compound, careful not to make a beeline out of greatfern territory. To them, it would seem as if the spirits answered their prayers and guided them quickly and safely back to the Kumosenkan forward operating base. On the way Aoi had passed out, but Kimiko was still holding strong. They got them both into the field hospital and their treatment began by actual medical professionals.
One of the younger men in the FOB approached Eruza. “Ex- excuse me ma’am. I can’t imagine how exhausted you are but I’m afraid you have immediate orders from the web of logistics. You’re to report to the Pactstei Grand Hotel as soon as possible. You have a meeting with an Elenrian general to review new firearms their armory has developed.”
Eruza sighed and smiled. “A night in a nice hotel, paid for by the government? All to stand around and say that some guns are fine? Sounds like a plan to me”
The man turned over a page and spoke up again. “A- actually ma’am you’re supposed to bring a few soldiers with you. The web wants the weapons tested properly and thoroughly. Apparently we’ve invested quite a lot in the new armories and we need to make sure the investment is paying off.”
“Right.” Eruza paused. “I wish I could take Aoi-kas with me. She’s forgotten more about firearms than I’ll ever know.” She took a few beats to think. “Alright. Kamiko, Kyo, Ayumi, aaaaand Yumi! You four are coming with me to stay in a nice hotel for a night and testing firearms in the morning. Room service is on me.” The women she called out were clearly exhausted but they nodded and agreed. None of them were about to turn down free food and a warm bed. The five women climbed into an armored car and a private began driving them towards the assigned hotel.