The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago The Civil War

Small Soldiers - A collab with @Axl

After Anastasia spoke, Shlan turned off her radio and turned to Russel. "Before I point that she both forgot the two of us existed and that splitting up is probably a great way to fail in two tasks at once, what're your thoughts?" The woman scratched at her neck uncomfortably, "I know we've had some heated disagreements on how things should be done, but I still respect that you generally know what you're doing. And it'd be nice to have someone competent I can rely on."

The soldier turns to face his comrade, muting his radio temporarily. "Normally I'd agree with Anastacia, since we are in a race against time. But we don't have enough intel on enemy force deployment, so splitting up is a bit dangerous. It would be fine if we had more boots on the ground to run interference for our vehicles, but that's something we lack."

Nodding, Shlan turned her radio back on and addressed the others. "Me and Russel, who you're plan forgot to mention, agree that splitting up would be a bad idea. There's too many unknowns to go charging in at half strength. Personally, I say we go for the food lines. Rescuing the listener district means shit if we don't have a strong enough foothold afterwards to keep it."

"Seconded." He would reply after reinstating contact with the others. "The food lines district is the most important. If this were to drag on, we would need those supply lines." He keeps to himself his own twisted feelings on abandoning the listener district for now.
 
The propositions were put forth, and Gabriel felt as if he should speak up… Yet, he knew of his past endeavors with some of these people. He didn’t know how they felt about him, but it certainly couldn’t be positive. There was something they didn’t seem to realize about this, maybe a common thing that were slipping their minds. One of two important places to go had an urgency, while the other had a position being held by probably well-armed soldiers.

“This is Gabriel speaking. We should do the listener district first. The more we wait, the more of them get slaughtered. The Food Lines probably has Coalition soldiers defending it for now, while I doubt the Listener District had guards already on site. I also think there will be less problems with vehicles in the Listener district, they’d have heavier vehicles in the Food Lines to take over…”
Gabriel stopped speaking, thinking people would get it. The decision would have to be taken by whoever was down there.

“Whatever we are doing, we have to move quick.”
 
Russell clicks his radio on, ensuring everyone hears his answer. "We'll clear out the Food Lines district. It may be a tougher fight, but it will help ease up our defense in the long term. Being able to move troops quickly is vital for a counteroffensive. Once we finish up there, we can decide what comes next." He then hefts his weapon, and begins making his way towards the food lines district, keeping an eye out for any hostiles.
 
Ana listened to the chatter, keeping herself silent after tree slight chastising she'd earned from Shlan. She had forgotten the people on the ground, so caught up in the machinery being moved about as she was. After Russell gave out the commands, though, she moved into motion, swinging her helicopter towards the Food Lines district.

"If we see less resistance than expected, Russell, I'll be prepping to head towards the Listener district as soon as I can." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I won't leave others like me to die if it can be helped."

She clicked her microphone off, checked her fuel, and then sent a strobe of data to Gabriel. A message would pop up for him, either on a screen or in his HUD, short and simple.

Thanks for tying to help my kind out. If you say so, I'll fly there on your call to help them out.
 
Tristan listened to the conversation go back and forth about whether to defend the Food Lines or the Listener district. To him it seemed obvious that they should tackle the food lines first, since that was a higher priority. After all, the Bunker needed to be secure and the Coalition forces could easily secure that district afterwards. Not to mention the place was full of potential dissidents to the Children of Eve so they must be---

Wait, what am I thinking? They are still human, aren't they? They deserve to be protected same as the other civilians. They aren't a threat on their own." Tristan thought. He shook his head, while Russell gave the order to move to the food lines. Content that everyone seemed to agree with him, at least for the moment, Tristan prepared his tank to move out towards the Food Lines.
 
Eira picked up the drone she had sent into the room ahead of them—though a couple of the spines had been damaged by enemy gunfire, it had been designed with redundancy in its movement. Nearly all of the spines would have to be broken off before it ceased to be able to move freely.

The spines retracted, and Eira replaced the drone in its slot on the back of her armour.

"Understood, sir, ready to hit the laboratory." She hesitated. "Now, know you've said you've got your reasons, and hell we all got a personal stake in this—but whatever you plan on doing in there, remember to take it out on the guys that matter, yeah?" She stepped past him out of the room after speaking, making it clear that she wanted neither acknowledgement nor explanation following her words. His decisions were his own to make.
 
“I'm sure that if I wasn't in such a shape, I wouldn't have really bothered becoming so well-versed in tech. Besides, it's not like I can take apart an engine, or do maintenance on a helicopter. I simply know how to fix the things that keep me alive.”
Russell, Fresh Meat Meet Old Salt, Page 1.​

The Coalition – Supply Lines

With their orders finally settling in and their decision made, the squad leaves Jenive behind and starts moving out toward the now snow-coated food line district. As they leave, she turns and enters the bunker, and shortly thereafter, contact is cut off between them.

The snow continues to come down, though with less ferocity, clearing up their vision enough to finally get a look at the enemy as they began their approach. Without intel to go on, they were forced to eyeball it, and what they saw was a rather grim looking picture. The food line itself was heavily damaged—part of the roof had caved in from the explosive they had used to incite the entire conflict. Two Coalition soldiers were left standing inside the structure, attempting to hold off an advance of U-ARM forces who were in a structure on the opposite side of the street—a small, two floor building made largely of concrete. A structure likely reinforced well enough that simply toppling it with explosives was not an option.

From what they could see, there were likely around eight U-ARM soldiers fighting over the district, with one tank parked between the two structures—watching the skies for any incoming trouble. The squad was just outside of U-ARM’s detection range, being about a block away, but if they approached any closer, they would be spotted and U-ARM’s tank would most certainly start going after their helicopters.

U-ARM – Uncontrolled Ambition

“The guys that matter?” Keith mutters under his breath with a certain measure of confusion, before stepping out of the room. He motions a demolitions and electronics expert among the U-ARM soldiers to follow him, and begins making his way toward the laboratory, with his perhaps uncertain allies in tow.

They descend another level, deeper into the compound. Above them, the sounds of battle rage on, though most Coalition forces had been pulled to deal with the battle above, leaving their route into the labs relatively clear. They pass through a couple more hallways, before reaching a metallic doorway. The demolitions expert sets a charge and then blows open the doors, allowing them all to get inside.

Inside the lab was a veritable array of science experiments, most beyond reasonable description. There were a couple of thick metal tables, with bloodstains upon them. There were also computer desks, and other points of low cover. There were four glass tubes on the opposite side of the room, containing people inside them. At least, they looked like people, though closer examination would reveal metallic plates on each of the tubes, revealing details about each subject. Their name, and classification—all listeners.

Keith motions to the electronics expert to start working on the computers while the demolitions expert starts wiring charges around the room. “Mother of God...” He mutters under his voice, as he glances to his two allies. “This is the truth of our enemy. This is what we’ve come to recover. This cannot be allowed to remain unknown.”
 
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