Mission of Mercy (poetlore and dunruffle)

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The mall was eerily quite, a ghostly remnant of a once thriving and popular recreational area. The men moved swiftly but carefully down the walkway, constantly scanning their surroundings for threats. Suddenly Xanders held up a fist and the group stopped. Xanders bent down and pointed to a nearly invisible thin wire stretching across the walkway. "Booby trap." Xanders whispered for Cassandra's sake as he carefully disarmed the explosive attached to the wire. "This means someone doesnt want intruders around here, keep your eyes open." Kirst reminded his squad then they began to walk again. Suddenly a side door opened and a rebel walked out trying to light a cigarette. The rebel's eyes widened in surprise as he went to draw his weapon. Xanders charged in and tried to gut the man with his bayonet, but the rebel twisted to the side and brought his gun up to aim at Xanders. Suddenly there was a loud bang and the rebel's head exploded into bits of blood, brains, and skull. Turk lowered the barrel of his sniper rifle as Xanders nodded his thanks. Kirst looked around as the sounds of shouting and running footsteps began to get closer. "Shit! Squad double time!" The men broke out into a run, Erik half dragging Cassandra with him as he occassionally looked behind them.

The group came to a halt after turning several corners and ducking into a dilapidated subway station. They were all panting as they stopped to catch their breath. "Ok, no more quick routes. We stick with the safe and secure ones. Riktof, find a map or something so we can plot a way out of here. Everyone else, take five." Erik nodded and went off to rummage around in a nearby security desk as the men either leaned against a wall or simply sat down to calm themselves.
 
Casssandra nodded and watched Xanders disarm the thing. She saw the rebel and gasped, but then the sound of a rifle near her and the subsequent splatter of brain matter caught her attention. that was one hell of a shot, but she didn't say anything of the sort, she took off running with everyone else. She was panting like everyone else but she wasn't scared or wide eyed. She was determined to give them nothing more to worry about, and the prospect of a hysterical female was probably something NONE of them was willing to deal with at this moment.

She was wishing she had her backpack about now. There was clean fresh water in there and some energy bars. ALL of them could use it at the moment, but she knew it was back behind that wall, because she'd forgotten to grab it. Kicking herself as three kinds of a fool for making that mistake,especially when she realized her prize possession that heat sealing gun was in there. She frowned and let out a soft groan, "I forgot my pack.." she whispered.
 
Dante chuckled and patted Cassandra on the back. "Dont sweat it doc. Things can be replaced, people can't." Kirst looked up and nodded as a bead of sweat dropped off his nose. "Dante is right Brandford. I would rather have you in one piece than be carrying you if you had been wounded trying to get it." Erik returned with a brochure of the subway system and he pointed to the dark maw of the train tunnel. "If we follow this track for a bit it will put us right next to the comm station." Kirst nodded and stood up, readjusting his pack. "Sounds like a plan. Alright men, same setup as before. Use your night vision gear I dont want any flashlights giving away our positions." The men nodded and rummaged around in their packs, each retrieving a night vision monocle device and attaching it to their helmets. Kirst held on out to Cassandra as he tested his out. "Luckily I brought a spare. Let me help you put it on." He reached over and clipped the monocle to its corresponding socket. "Now the thing is do not look at any bright lights. It will briefly blind you and ruin your night vision. The layover effect from your monocle might take some getting used to but I am sure you can get used to it. Alright squad, move out." The men stood up and entered the pitch black darkness of the tunnel, slowly advancing towards their destination.
 
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Cassandra nodded, "I agree, but I had a bit of food and water in it, would ahve been helpful," she didn't mention her medical equipment, because like Dante said, it could be replaced. She let Kirst adjust the night vision thing on her helmet and she blinked as she tried to get used to the odd look of everything. She had a few awkward first steps but she adjusted and was then able to move without the slight staggering.

It was actually quite interesting to move in total darkness and yet be able to see, sort of. She was tempted to look around and see exactly how much detail she would be able to make out, but she stifled it and moved with the others, having no desire to slow them down. She couldn't remember a time when anyone had taken such care to ensure her safety and comfort, even when it would ahve been relatively easy to do. yet these men who hardly knew her, were making gallant efforts to see that she was safe and comfortable even. She'd probably give that a great deal of thought later, when she was actually safe and back in the green zone, but for now she was just happy to be with this particular group of men. She had to believe a less ethical group, may have abandoned her without looking back.

She did stumble a few times when the tracks seemed to be in a slightly different place than she seemed to see them, but she always recovered without falling. her stumbling sounded deafeningly loud to her, and she hoped it wouldn't alert anyone tot heir presence.
 
After walking for a few minutes, a faint light began to glow from the end of the tunnel. The group slowed and raised their weapons expectantly, cautiously approaching the opening. Soon the sound of voices and laughing emanated from the subway stop ahead of them. A group of rebels had made a makeshift camp in the subway station, doubtlessly to take advantage of the protection given by being underground. A series of cots were laid out around a portable stove while their weapons lay in an unorganized pile nearby. The group of seven rebels sat around a holo-player watching some sort of comedy show, based on their sporadic bursts of laughter. Kirst stopped and motioned for the group to get into a huddle, "ok here is the plan. Xanders starts off with a grenade. Dante you lay down suppressing fire while Turk takes out any that try to escape. Riktof and I will mop up any leftovers, alright move out and wait for my signal." The men nodded and spread out as Erik put Cassandra into a niche in the wall. "Stay here until the shooting stops." He then joined Kirst as they stealthily advanced on the enemy camp. Dante had set up the bipod on his machine gun on the edge of the track wall while Turk had moved farther back into the station. Once everyone was in position, Kirst nodded to Xanders to begin the attack.

Xanders took a grenade off of his belt and pulled the pin, waiting for three seconds he tossed the grenade towards the group of rebels. The grenade bounced several times and came to a rest next to the chair of one of the rebels. The man looked down and his eyes widened in shock as he blurted out "GRENA-", he was cut off as the grenade exploded, sending him sprawling as shrapnel peppered the group. The rebels scrambled for their weapons as Dante sent a fusillade of bullets into them. Two men were quickly cut down trying to get to their weapons as the rest scrambled for cover. Kirst and Erik emerged from their hiding place and added their own storm of bullets. One rebel was shot trying to vault over a bench, his body tumbling in a spray of blood. The last three started firing back into the darkness, spraying the tunnel with lead as they tried to apot their attackers. There was the boom of Turk's sniper rifle and one man was decapitated as his neck and spine were obliterated by the high caliber sniper round. The last two rebels panicked and began running towards the stairs that led to the surface, one had his legs blown out from under him by Xander's shotgun while the other was nearly cut in half by a burst of fire from Dante. Suddenly it was quiet, the only sound was a low moan from the only surviving rebel as he clutched his shredded legs.

"Good work men, search for any intel and scavenge any supplies. We move out in ten." The men nodded their affirmatives as they spread out to search the bodies of the dead rebels. Erik went back and retrieved Cassandra from her cubbyhole , helping her to her feet. "Alright doc the shooting is over. Just give us a minute to get situated then we will get moving again.
 
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Cassandra saw the rebels ad silently she wished they hadn't been there. She knew what had to be done. She was pushed into a tight little space and told to wait, and wait she did. She saw flashed and heard horrific noises. She was glad for her spot when the rebels began firing back into the darkness. she heard the silence that followed and hesitated to leave her spot in case things hadn't totally ended. She jumped a bit when Ritkof reappeared and told her that the shooting was over. She nodded stupidly.

"I'm fine Ritkof...do what you have to do." she said though it was a total lie. She had been in combat situations before but not like this. She hadn't seen or heard the actual fighting just the aftermath of it. This was totally different. Just the sounds were going to haunt her for a long time, she knew that much. She offered him a crooked kind of smile but it was the best she could muster at that moment.
 
Erik nodded and gave Cassandra a sad smile. "I know this aint pretty doc. But this is what some people have to live with, its our job to do things like this so people like you do not have to." Suddenly Xanders called out to Kirst. "Hey LT, what do we do with this guy?" He gently kicked the wounded rebel who was laying in a pool of spreading blood. His legs had been torn to shreds by the buckshot and it was clear several major arteries were cut. Kirst walked over and stood over the rebel who was whimpering in pain, "can we get anything out of him?" Xanders shrugged, "probably not, he looks like he aint teally in a talking mood." Kirst chuckled and walked away, "then he is not mission essential. Leave him. We need to get a move on." The men shouldered their gear and began walking past the rebel who began crying. Erik guided Cassandra past the rebel and pulled out his pistol. The shot rang out in the silence and the men turned around to look at Erik who stood over the now lifeless body of the rebel. He shrugged and discreetly nodded to Cassandra, Kirst nodded and began moving again. "Cmon no time for dawdling."
 
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Cassandra nodded, "I know," she said, "I'm ok really." she lied again. maybe if she kept saying it, she would actually start to believe it. She moved with him and saw the man crying and she had to look away from him. She wanted to help him, even though he was an enemy, because the doctor in her was screaming it was the right thing to do, but then Ritkof mercifully put both the man and her out of their misery with that single shot.

She grabbed his arm and gave it a squeeze, "Thank you," she said and moved with the rest of the group, pushing herself to keep up. She needed water and something to eat, but she wasn't going to mention that either, none of them had eaten or had water. If they could keep going, so could she.
 
Xanders got to the top of the steps and scanned the station. Seeing nobody he stopped and reached into his pack, pulling out bottles of water and protein bars. "I got these off those dudes back there. Its not much but I sure as hell don't care." He handed them out to everyone and began eating one of the bars. Dante took a large gulp from a bottle and poured some water over his head, letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh that feels good!" Turk silently chewed his protein bar as Xanders have a bottle and a bar to Cassandra. "You gotta keep yourself hydrated Doc. The adrenaline males you feel fine for awhile but when runs out you can crash pretty hard." Kirst nodded as he gulped down his water, "I am sure the doc knows that Xanders. She probably knows more than you in just about everything." They all chuckled as Xanders rolled his eyes, "yeah yeah ha ha very funny. I dont see anyone else taking point huh?" They all laughed some more as they finished their brief snack. "Ok people. The comm station is just a few blocks from here. Keep it tight and keep your eyes open. No getting sloppy now."
 
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Cassandra accepted the water and energy bar gratefully, "Thank you," she said and took a long drink of ehr water before she ate anything. She knew water was far more necessary than food. She did however eat that bar, "Actually," she said to the group, "The water is far more beneficial and necessary. Dehydration will fell you long before hunger does. Especially in this heat." She just gave a sideways smile to Kirst's observation about her knowledge, "I don't much about what you all do and I'm willing to rely on your expertise in this. No one knows it all..."

She was for all her gifts a very humble minded kind of person. She was always ready and willing to learn and she honestly believed that everyone had something to teach you. Sometimes it was a technique, sometimes it was a character quality, sometimes it was how NOT to be, but always there was something there if you looked for it.

She readied herself to continue moving. That little bit of water and food energized her and renewed her spirits. She pointed to the night vision things, "How do these come off?' she asked, "Do we still need them?"
 
Erik came over and removed the monocle from Cassandra's helmet. "There ya go Doc." He pocketed the device and gave Kirst a thumbs up. "Ready to roll LT." Kirst nodded and pointed to the doors. "Alright squad, move out." Xanders peekd out the door and into the street. "All clear, building complex across the street looks like it connects to the comm station. I see an antennae and satellite dishes on a tower behind the building." Kirst nodded, "alright we cross the street in pairs. Dante and Xanders first, then Doc and Riktof, then Turk and I." Xanders nodded and waited for Dante and nodded. "Alright big man, think you can keep up?" Dante grinned and lightly punched Xanders, "I will have you know I was a fullback in my highschool football team, shrimp." Xanders laughed, "alright, first one to make it to the other side buys the first round next time." Dante grinned, "deal. Onetwothreego!" Dante sprinted out the door with Xanders hit on his heels. Kirst rubbed the bridge of his nose and gave an exasperated sigh, "Doc, Riktof. You are up next, ready?"
 
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Cassandra smiled, "Thank you," she said, "Those things do take a bit of getting used to." she was glad to be able to do without them now. She listened to the two teasing each other and grinned. When it was her turn to run across the street she glanced at Ritkof, "Hmm..pack and gear...I bet I can beat you." she challenged. She looked at the commander, "say go..." She said and waited for him to do so ready to elbow Ritkof as she took off, to give herself a bit of a head start.
 
Erik smiled, "you dont have to carry all this armor and gear. I should get a head start. Ready, set, go!" He rushed out the doors and ran across the street, not at the fastest pace but better than a regular jog. He got to the other side and waved for Kirst and Turk to run over. The two nodded and after a brief pause began running across the street. Suddenly a gunshot echoed down the street and Kirst was hit in the arm, knocking him off balance and sending him sprawling. Not missing a beat, Turk grabbed Kirst by his armor's drag strap and dragged him across the street as clouds of dust kicked up around them as more bullets were fired. Xanders kicked down a door to a the apartment complex and Turk dragged Kirst inside as everyone else tushed in behind them. A few more bullets gouged large holes in the door frame before going silent.

Kirst growled in pain as Erik pulled up his sleeve. "You got lucky LT, its a thru and thru wound and it looks like no major arteries or blood vessels were hit. Just a chunk of your arm, but hey you needed to lose some weight anyways." Kirst chuckled as Erik rummaged through his pack and retrieved a pack of tampon sticks. Looking over at Cassandra, Erik pulled a tampon out of its packaging. "Most people dont know that tampons make good bullet hole stoppers. They are designed to absorb blood and can stay in for extended periods of time. Handy for a quick battlefield patch up." Erik carefully inserted the tampon into the bullet wound then wrapped it in gauze. "You gonna be ok LT?" Kirst stood up and experimentally rolled his arm, wincing slightly. It's fine, I can still fight. Our main problem now is that sniper. He has us dialed in and he knows we need to cross another street. It would be suicide to cross now, we need to take him out. Turk you are up." Turk stood up and pulled out a high powered spotting scope. He then pointed to Cassandra. "She spots." Erik looked at Turk in bewilderment, "are you crazy?! She has no experience and you might get her killed!" Turk stood fast and shook his head. "Snipers know the outlines of helmets, any of you would stick out too much. She is thin and has good insincts." Erik looked at Kirst and Kirst sighed. "He is right Erik. Any decent sniper will be watching for us to counter snipe him. Plus we need to be on guard in case he sends in backup. Its the smart move." Erik sighed and handed the spitter scope to Cassandra as Turk put down his pack and began pulling out pieces of fabric. "You gonna be ok?"
 
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Cassandra saw the lieutenant get hit and she was ready to help but Ritkof was right on it quick and efficient. She grinned at his use of a tampon, "Probably one of the more safe uses of that," she commented with a sideways grin. She saw Kirst get up and move that arm with a bit of surprise and a lot of admiration. Tough guy.

She heard them talking about the sniper and she knew he had to go. They were deadly accurate killing machines, and though there was one in their group that didn't seem to be an out an out killer, she knew he was. They said she needed to be the spotter and she blinked. She looked at the scope that Ritkof had handed her and she nodded, "I've used one before." she replied as she took off her helmet and looked at Kirst. "I didn't see where the fire was coming from before," she said, "Did you?"

She got a vague point and nodded. She went to the door they'd come in through and scanned the building across the street with her naked eyes and could have sworn she saw a flash. She put the angled spotter scope up and then moved it and turned it and moved herself until she saw the man. "He's on the roof of the building directly across from us, but he's lying low. All I can actually see is the top of his helmet and the rifle." She turned back to Kirst, "Maybe he needs to be higher up?" She offered, "Or can he hit the top of a helmet?"
 
Turk turned around now with bits of camouflage cloth hanging off his head and rifle. "This way, need higher vantage point." He started up the stairs and made sure Cassandra was following him. They climbed up to the fifth floor when Turk decided to stop ascending. Taking out his pistol, Turk slowly and carefully made his way down the hallway, checking corners and behind doors. Finding an open door, he went into the room. The room was in shambles, obviously from various looters. The blinds were closed as Turk righted a knocked over table and set up his rifle. "Only amateur snipers and in movies do they stick the gun out the window. Real snipers hide back in a dark area, to hide themselves and muffle the sound of the shot. Go and slowly pull the left curtain aside, only expose yourself as needed. The scope will give you range and elevation, look for any inconsistencies in the terrain. The sniper is probably in a position like ours, look for open windows to dark rooms." He inserted a bullet into the chamber of the rifle and closed the bolt, settling down behind the scope and waiting for Cassandra's directions. "We only get one shot, if we miss the sniper will know where we are. Take your time and make absolutely sure you have the target. Sniping is about patience."
 
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Cassandra followed him up the stairs, now VERY glad she'd been on the track team and had continued her love of running in the time since. She wasn't as winded at the top as she'd expected, and for that she was glad. She waited while he started down the hall and then followed into the room he'd chosen. It was a total wreck, but they weren't there for a pleasurable vacation.

Turk righted the table and then explained about professional snipers and she nodded. she lifted the very edge of the curtain away from the window straight back and slid the scope up. She didn't push it aside because she felt like that would make the movement more obvious. Straight back could be wind, since the glass of the window was broken. From here she could see that what had flashed at her from the roof, and looked like a helmet was just a few pipes. She shook her head at her earlier thoughts and then looked for someone positioned as they were.

It took a long while but she saw a slight, very slight movement and focused in on that area. "Gotcha," she said softly. She gave Turk the distance and elevation and kept watching through the scope. "There's nothing that I can see in your way. Windows are gone over there too." She said softly. She didn't move from her spot, because she was afraid the sniper may notice any movement over here, just as easily as she'd seen him move ever so slightly. She was holding her breath waiting.
 
Turk aimed down the scope of his rifle and found the spot where she had indicated. "He is smart. He set up that exposed helmet as a decoy. If I had tried to hit that before he would have seen me and I would be dead, good work. Now stay absolutely still, it will be very loud but only for a moment." There was a few moments of tense silence as Turk adjusted his aim, then there was a deafening boom as Turk fired. The high caliber bullet left a slight trail of displaced air as it traveled, and it hit the enemy sniper dead center in the head. There was a spray of blood and gore and some movement as the headless body flopped around. "Its leftover electrical pulses from the head, the body doesnt know it is dead yet so it stays alive for a few moments. Good job, thats your first official spotter assist." He gave her a thin smile and packed up his rifle then returned to the group downstairs. "Enemy sniper eliminated." Kirst smiled and nodded, "good work you two. Xanders went to scout the comms building. We need to move fast, we are running out of daylight and the rebels have the advantage at night."
 
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Cassandra watched through the scope and saw the beheading and the twitching. She knew why, but it was still gruesome to watch. She pushed back from the curtain and nodded, "Good shooting," she said. and then followed him back down the stairs the way they'd come. She felt a little noodle legged, but she managed to navigate the stairs without falling down them somehow.

She leaned against the wall and willed her hands to still. She wasn't sure if the shaking was from nerves of the need for food, water, or a combination of all three. She shoved her hands in her pockets to hide the shaking and waited for Xanders to return. She had no idea what the Comms Bulding was going to do for them, but she DID well understand how much danger the night would bring them.
 
Xanders came back and picked up his pack. "Looks abandoned. Hopefully the equipment will still work." Kirst nodded and reloaded his rifle. "Lets hope our luck holds out." They all quickly crossed the street and entered the building. "Dante you and Xanders barricade the ground floor. Doors, windows, all of it. Turk, get on the roof and take overwatch. I want to know if anyone is coming for us. Riktof, you guard the Doc while I get on the horn to command. Stay frosty people, no mistakes and we all get back in one piece." The men nodded and went about their assigned tasks as Kirst and Erik led Cassandra up to the comm room. Kirst turned on the machines and after a few moments the comms came to life. "Fortress actual this is saint actual. We need immediate evac, civilian doctor vip in tow. Coordinates as follows." Kirst listed off their location and after a few moments the dispatcher responded. "Good to hear from you, we hopeful that since you were not among the dead you had escaped. Armed extract will be there in fifteen mikes, hold position." Suddenly Turk yelled down from the roof, "enemy rebels approaching, looks around twenty. Several armed with rockets. "Shit!" Kirst cursed and grabbed his rifle. "Dante! Xanders! We have company! Extract will be here in fifteen we need to hold until then!" The sounds of heavy furniture being moved emanated from downstairs. "Roger LT! Lets roll out the welcome mat for these fuckers!" A rocket screamed towards them and exploded against the wall, shaking the building. "Riktof with me! We will use the windows." The sound of Turks rifle boomed from above and two rebels were knocked over with large holes in them. Dante's machine gun chattered as he sent a storm of lead towards the advancing rebels causing them to seek cover. Xanders blew apart a rebel who had made it to the doors as Erik and Kirst began firing down below. "Doc you stay there! Keep the line open in case command needs to tell us something."
 
cassandra followed them into the building, and stayed close to Kirst and Ritkof. She admired the tight unit as they each understood their role and carried it out with precision and skill. She felt the building shake and gave the wall a pat, "Good girl.." she said encouraging it to stay standing.

She listened as Kirst made contact with command and was relieved to hear they were sending help. Fifteen minutes was not long, but it was forever here. She nodded when he said stay by the communications equipment. She could do that and she was glad to be of help. If she ever came along again she was going to make sure she had a weapon, a useful heavy one.
 
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