Mai squeezes the trigger on her RPG-7, launching a fragmentation warhead directly into the machine gunner positioned by the sandbags. The machine gunner is blasted into a ragdoll which slides towards the mercenaries. The other two mercenaries are quickly alerted and spring into the ready position, opening fire into the general direction where Mai and Hikari and taking cover. Emi and Chiara sprint from their flank and open fire on the two mercenaries, dropping them instantly. Emi and Chiara then take the position, scanning around them before Emi calls in "Clear!" to Hikari and Mai.
"Yeeehaw! Did you see that?! They didn't even have a fighting chance!" Mai shouts enthusiastically from the tree line.
"That was too easy..." Hikari notes suspiciously. "Surely they couldn't be that out in the open for us to take them out. Something doesn't seem right."
"Either that or Zander isn't hiring the best. That's like what, two from Kraken PMC and one from Glam Squad." Only five left from their team!" Mai laughs to herself as she reloads another fragmentation warhead into her RPG-7. "Come on Emi! Let's go find the rest and eliminate them. We don't even need Longhorn Squad at this point. We're a serious killing machine!"
"Don't be so cocky Miss "I don't think we have a chance." We can't let our guard down. Emi! Did we really take them out so easily?"
"I suppose we had Hikari." Emi looks down at the corpses of the combatants they had taken out. Although...something about them seems...off.
"Uh....Emi...I don't think those were players." Chiara pats down one of the bodies and sees they aren't carrying as much as gear as they should be carrying. Her attention is quickly shifted when she sees a glare from a scope from behind Emi in the trees. "Emi get down!"
Emi drops to the ground to take cover as they start taking sniper fire. "Dammit, I should had known. They were trying to trap us. Those weren't players, they were NPC reinforcements!"
"Emi, Chiara! Get out of there!" Mai and Hikari shout from there position. Suddenly they start taking cover as they take gunfire north from Emi and Chiara.
"Ambush! Find cover! Return fire!" Emi shouts as she crawls through the ground desperately to find cover behind one of the stacks of logs with Chiara. "They were expecting us Chiara. Dammit.....dammit!" She reaches for her radio and calls Tomio. "Tomio! We've been ambushed! We took down three AI reinforcements but now we're under fire!"
When Tomio's signal goes through, Emi can hear a lot of chaotic gunfire and explosions from Tomio's end. "Same here. We're being bombarded by artillery and small arms fire..ah.....hang on!" A long bang could be heard over the radio. "Sorry but they are launching grenades at us. We're doing our best to hold our position in the village by staying indoors. If you have control over part of the logging camp, try to hold on as much as you can."
"I'll do what I can Tomio." She closes communications with Tomio before addressing the girls. "We're holding positions, we must not lose our control of the logging camp. Fire at will!"
"Understood, Emi!" Hikari peaks over the fallen tree trunk she's been using for cover to suppress the enemy with a volume of fire. Mai does the same with her Type 56 SKS as she tries to engage the enemy which she can assume is hiding behind cover of some the logging machinery. Meanwhile, Emi and Chiara desperately try to move from their cover but every time Emi tries to peak out of cover, she immediately takes sniper fire. "We can't escape Chiara."
Just as the girls receive fire, a loud rumbling sound starts to creep up on them. From the opposite end of the logging camp, an M1A1 Abrams Tank emerges with mercenary's taking cover from behind as they fire upon Armadillo Squad.
"Enemy Tank! I got this!" Mai shouts in her comms as peaks up from the cover behind the trees to aim her RPG. She fires the rocket directly at the front of the tank but sees nothing but a light explosion.
"Mai! That tank barely looks scratched." Hikari shouts from across Mai's position.
"I used the wrong warhead...hang on!" Mai pats her RPG carrier on her back but her face goes pale. "Oh....that's not good."
"Oh Mai....please don't tell me..." Hikari sighs desperately.
"Mai! Can you hurry up and take out that tank! We're sitting ducks out here."
"I'm sorry Emi, but I am out of warheads." Mai says sorrowfully.
"What do you mean your out?! Don't tell me you didn't pick up any HEAT warheads for your RPG-7! Mai! Everyone, we have to fall back to the gas station We have to get to..."
"Emi....Run!" Chiara pulls Emi as she runs behind the log cover just in the moment the M1A1 Abrams Tanks aim at their cover and fires. Shrapnel and chunks of logs scatter all over. If Emi and Chiara would had stayed behind the cover, they would had been ripped to shreds. The force of the blast is enough to knock Chiara and Emi off their balance and fall onto the floor. Emi's ears are ringing and she's become partially death apart from hearing the occasional gunfire and bullets whizzing past her position. She can hear Chiara screaming her name. "Emi! Emi! Emi get up! We have to go!"
"Emi gets up from the ground, grips her rifle tightly and starts to make a dash to the woods back where Hikari and Mai are taking cover. They receive more fire and another shot from the tank which knocks down some trees right behind them. When they both reach Hikari and Mai, Emi waste no time to explain anything else. "Quickly! Get to the UTV!" Just as they try to dash for the UTV, a shot from the tank blast it into a heap of scrap. "Forget it, just run! Split up and run for your lives!"
The girls slightly spread apart as they run back to the gas station. The whole scene is rather pathetic. The squad has completely lost cohesion and professional as they run from the enemy. The thoughts of winning the match are completely out of the question. All that's in Emi's and everyone else mind is to get away from the gunfire. Chiara is not too far off from Emi while she's retreating as the rest, but another blast from the tank strikes close to her and knocks her onto her knees, knocking over more trees. Her vision is completely disorientated and her sense of direction is lost. All she can think about is getting back up and running like her life depends on it. Despite knowing this is all just a game, just a simulation, it sure doesn't feel like it to Chiara. Especially compared to her first match against Longhorn Squad where the whole thing just felt like a sport, this is almost the real deal. She keeps running, tripping, and moving until her fatigue gets the best of her and she rests once the gunfire is no longer present.
Chiara sits behind a tree, catching her breath as she tries to collect her thoughts of what just happened. She has no idea how far she has ran. She doesn't realize how far off course she really is. Chiara peaks around and doesn't see any of her squad mates anywhere. She picks up her radio and tries to contact Emi and the others. "Emi! Are you there? Mai? Hikari? Where are you guys?" She releases the Push to Talk (PTT) but gets nothing but a short static. She notices her radio is partially cracked and shot to bits. "No...no no no no....ah~" The reality of her situation gets to her and she realizes she's all alone with no way to make communications. She falls into a fetal sitting position and being to weep softly.
Meanwhile in the northern village, Tomio and his squad are taking cover inside a residential structure in the village. The painted walls have bullet holes and bits of shrapnel letting in streaks of light into the ruined interior of the house. Tomio, Fio and Ramirez are taking cover inside a closet right under a staircase. It's dark, dusty and there's barely any room for them to move around in hiding all while they hear artillery shells slamming around their location One single shell could wipe them out completely..
"I can't believe they are using their support abilities so earlier!" Fio complained as she snuggles close to her squad mates. "Glam squad isn't playing around. They seriously want us dead!"
"It certainly doesn't help that these houses are all using composite wood. So cheap..." Ramirez commented. "Half of the furniture people order at the warehouses break before we can even load them onto trucks."
"Figured...we can't stay in here for too long. They'll strip this house until we're all that's left."
"Have any plans Tomio?"
"I really wish we can call Armadillo Squad for backup, but they are having a hard time at the longing camp. We have to make a run for another building."
"At least until their artillery barrage is over?"
"Exactly, and we'll have to hold the town and prepare for close quarter combat."
"Heh. Sounds like my kind of party." Ramirez smirked.
"Uh...I hate getting dirty up close. What about Kimberly? Will she be alright?"
"No worries Fio." Tomio reaffirmed. "Kimberly is going to patrol the woods south from us to see if the enemy is trying anything sneaky. The last thing we need is to be surrounded. If she can make a link with Armadillo Squad, we'll be able to bridge a support line between our squads and might turn this battle around...or at least I hope so."
Emi, Mai, and Hikari finally made it to the gas station. Everyone is completely out of breath, but Emi keeps calling for Chiara over her radio. "Chiara! Where are you?! Come on! Pick up already!" She lowers her radio in frustration. "I can't communicate with Chiara. She's gone missing." She sighs and then glares furiously at Mai. "Mai, why weren't you carrying more warheads?!"
"I was carrying the max amount...just not the right ones.." Mai mumbles regretfully.
"How could you be so...ugh....are the warheads so indistinguishable from each other that you got them mixed up before the match?"
"No...no...they are quite distinct but..."
"But what?!! Why aren't you carrying HEAT warheads Mai?!!" Emi shouts furious at Mai which even shocks Hikari who has never seen anyone else getting angry at Mai.
"The...they're so expensive Emi...I couldn't bring myself to buying some before the match."
"Mai...you know we're competition in a tournament right?! You know better than all of us that we were eventually going to go up against armor at some point!?" She walks up to Mai and looks at her HUD to do a credit check on Mai. It clearly shows that she has plenty of credits saved.
"Well you're not broke Mai. In fact, you have more saved than Hikari and me. Why couldn't you just spend a little to at least give us some anti-tank capabilities?! Come on! What's wrong with you?!" Emi's tone is harsh enough to make Mai shutter in shame.
"Emi...I'm....I'm so sorry..."
"You know we just lost our hold of the logging camp and now we lost Chiara because you were too cheap to buy the right warheads for your rocket launcher. You're our anti-tank specialist and you couldn't even do that right!!"
"Emi, please cut her some slack." Hikari finally interjects in a calming voice as she can see Emi is really starting to break Mai down. "Mai is just frugal. You can't blame her." Hikari sighs. "She didn't have it as good as either of us growing up. She had to make do with what she had, assuming she had anything at all. It's not her fault, she's like this."
"Hikari..." Mai's voice softly cracks after witnessing Hikari come to her support. It was not expected at all but it makes her feel less guilty about her behavior. Even Emi is in awe and starts to feel a little upset at herself for being too harsh on Mai.
"Mai...look...I'm sorry...I got a little carried away with my anger. I just...I just want our squad to be the best, even if we lose this in the end. I really should be more considerate, especially because I'm a sorry excuse of a psychology major...I just..." Emi eyes dart to the ground at her boots. "I've already let Chiara down. I failed to protect her a second time...all I can ask if I can at least protect you two, and maybe Tomio's squad if we get the chance."
"I...I understand Mai...it's still my fault. I promise I won't cheap out on equipment next time. You have my word Emi."
"Thank you Mai. We may have lost the logging camp but we still have this gas station. Do you think we can make fortification here before the enemy could arrive?"
"I can get it done in ten...no....five minutes." Mai agrees obediently as she takes out her sapper's shovel. I'll make some trenches, ditches and lay some barbed wire around the gas station."
"I won't have you do it alone, I'll give you a hand Mai."
"Count me in too." Hikari smiles as she joins in."
"Thanks you two...I...I think we might be able to turn this battle around. You still have your support troops at the ready?"
"Yeah. I'll call in for reinforcements when the enemy starts to approach."
"But what about that tank?"
"We're going to have to get creative with that." Emi notes as she looks at the refueling tanks in the gas station. "I wonder if these have fuel in them?"
Chiara slowly gets up from the ground, checking her gear to see if anything else is damaged. Other than her radio and her uniform being slightly ripped, she still has her MP5SD and Taurus TX22 Compact by her side. Her crossbow is also fine but she only has one explosive dart and a zip-line dart. Nothing strong enough to take on that tank even if she wanted to. Other than that, she has a utility knife and a couple of lite medical supplies to deal with minor wounds. Her equipment is pretty sparse. She has three magazines left with a fourth magazine completely empty from her MP5. Her side arm has two magazines but she doesn't want to use them unless absolutely necessarily. Chiara wished she got a compass or something as she's completely lost. Her vision is surrounded by no landmarks other than the vast wilderness of the first around her. She only vaguely knows the direction of the logging camp but even that's debatable to her.
"She begins to see a group of armed figures across the horizon of the trees but she quickly realizes that the group in question is not Armadillo Squad. She gets down on the ground and hides behind a thick tree, just barely wide enough to hide her small figure. She grips onto her submachine gun in her hands, round in the chamber and ready to go. Still, she knows well enough her submachine gun won't be enough to defend herself against the squad approaching her direction. All she can do is hide and hope for the best. She hides quietly, not making a single noise. Even her breathing is suppressed despite her heart racing to the point where she might panic very easily if she had no self control. The ruffles of the forest floor get louder as this squad moves in closer and closer until eventually the footsteps stop. It's downright quiet other than the sound of the breeze and the forest. An unexpected groan from a voice, that sounds no older than 13 years old breaks the silence.
"No cap, I seen them ran this way, on god."
"Yeah, well look around you. They aren't here, Squeaker." Another voice, this time belonging to someone with an Afrikaans accent. "I told you we should had gone for the gas station. We can't even bring the tank over here to finish the freaking job."
"Serves you right for listing to the battle royal professional." Another voice with an Korean accent speaks. "The kid should be in bed, not playing in a serious tournament."
"First of all, it's barely Saturday morning for our American friend here, so get your facts straight Sung-min. Second, at least the battle royal kid wasn't trying to bunny hop his way though the woods like a prancing little princess! You know this isn't an arena shooter?"
"So why the hell did you lie to me and say that hopping would make me move faster, Zander?!"
"Because it was fucking funny. That's why. Jesus, you looked so ridiculous man. Sometimes I wonder if I hired a professional group of gamers, or a professional circus act."
"Ha! How does it feel to be outclassed Boomer shooter guy?!" Squeaker mocks Sung-Min while flossing.
"Don't get cocky Squeaker, we still have to wipe out that squad we scared off earlier." Zander then gets a call from his radio. "Ah Christ...it's the twins again." He picks up his radio. "Uh huh....yeah?....What?!...Are you joking?...but....gwah..." He puts his radio down. "Well listen up scrubs, the wonderful twins of Glam Squad want us to go north and join them to wipe out the survivors of the village they bombarded into kingdom come."
"But what about the squad we're after, Zander?
"Fuck all we can do about them. We're getting paid to do whatever Glam Squad tells us to do. I don't have a say in anything of this. I'll just let Andjela lose on them."
Chiara can hear a rifle rack but nothing else for a reply.
"You're seriously going to let her take on a squad all by herself?" Sung-min asks baffled.
"Of course. She's our scout and sniper. She's a Serbian killing machine I tell you. Hunting and stalking is her specialty. As for the rest of us. We'll head up north and support the twin's assault."
"But what about the logging camp?"
"The two members of Glam squad and their Abrams tank will stay there and defend it. I doubt the enemy is going to try and take them on again. They went at us with fragmentation warheads. What were they thinking?! What a bunch of cowardly amateurs!" Zander laughs and shakes his head. "Honestly, I was hoping for a challenge but maybe we got a shot at winning this stupid tournament. You know one of the twins used to be part of Flamingo squad? They got real fucking close to winning the big lot. We dealing with stuck ups but I think they know what they are doing."
"Man I hope so..."
"Stop being such a downer bro. Their squads are a joke, we're literally just pushing their shit in for real." Squeaker bragged as the squad's voices start to fade as do their footsteps.
"I'm just saying, Squeaker. They seem like the kind of squad that seems to deploy all of their best toys in one go and then make squads like us go in and do all the dirty fighting for them while they sit back and relax. It just seems kind of lazy if you ask me." After that statement, Chiara can no longer hear any coherent conversations.
When the voices are gone, Chiara looks around the corner and sighs in relief once they are gone. But now she has something else to worry about. Emi and Tomio. They are in grave danger. She has to make a choice, she can try to run towards the gas station, wherever that may be and try to warn Emi and hopefully Tomio of the enemy's plans. Alternatively, she can head back to the logging camp and try to deal with that M1A1 Abrams tank. She doesn't have any anti-tank capabilities other than her C4 charges, but she thinks she might be able to sabotage the tank another way if she assaults the logging camp again on her own. She ponders about it for a bit before making her decision.