Parallel: The Legion

Chapter 11: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

"Flash!"

"Thunder! Ryder is that you?"

"Yeah," He lowered his shotgun. "Do you know where Falken is?"

"Right here." Another group approached to their right. The tower of a man had an assault rifle, as did the people with him.

"Any ideas gents or are we just stumbling around in the dark." Chase crouched down, the rest of them following him. "I'm looking at you two for this, grunts just have to be grunts, officers get the responsibility."

A series of loud whooshes came from all around them. Growling and orders being shouted echoes all around them, lasers started to appear behind each of the groups. red blips started getting closer and closer.

"Fall back, we can set up a better defense in the Meeting Room. Does anyone know what these boots do?" Falken raised his rifle and gestured for his team to hold the line. "Lead the way captain."

"My squad is Echo, Chase you're Hotel, Falken is Romeo. Let's move." Ryder growled and stalked forward a whoosh came from in front of them. On their maps were a few more blue dots heading towards the amphitheatre. "Airsoft right?" Chuckles and snickers filled their comms, followed by a scream as an Echo member launched forward, air coming from the leg guard. Ryder's eyes widened as he broke into a full grin. "WE'VE GOT JUMP GEAR!! Everyone fall back now, lean forward and think dash!"

Whoops and laughter overtook the orders and growling that echoed in the halls. This was an odd sound for everyone involved. Out of the four sections they were testing, three were able to activate the equipment. Olympia sat in front of a huge table with the locations of everyone. She was busy coordinating their security forces to hunt the players. Alexander crossed his arms, watching the security feed intently. His brow furrowed as three groups headed for the amphitheatre. He was sure that only one would secure it, but three?

"Olympia," Alexander leaned over her and set a new objective point for all their forces.

"Raisa Zakrevsky, Ryder Jackson, Genevieve Faust. King's Journey's revered King of the North and his lieutenants."

"Hm, so they had a what would the commander do moment. Bring up the Meeting Room to the field. That's around 30 men and women they're about to have all together, they're all fit enough to live in the woods, some even have the training to do so."

"Yes sir." Olympia bit her lip as she watched the three squads prepare to breach the door.
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Ryder propped up against the wall beside the door, having one of his section mates behind him. On the other side of the door was two of Chase's group while the rest defended the hallways. There were green blips inside the room. The other two were about to open the door when he held his hand up. Ryder knocked a rhythm onto the door, keeping his shotgun somewhat raised as the others grew just a tiny bit more nervous. Hushed voices and the sound of intense whispers were the only thing they could hear from the outside before the door opened slightly.

"Do spiders fly?" A feminine voice asked nervously.

"Carried by currents, yes." Ryder replied confidently, ushering the rest of the squads into the room. "Everyone in. Flip tables, watch all the entrances."

"Commander." A woman walked up to Ryder, bowing slightly. The R was a bit accentuated. "You weren't with us during the introductions."

"Hm, yeah, but we haven't found you in the game yet." He thumped Genevieve's head as Raisa kicked him in the back. "Good to see you too."

"Stick together this time yes?" Raisa growled and shook his head. Both of them had a marksman rifle and a machine pistol on their hips. The room shook making everyone that much more tense. All other noises were drowned against the sound of metal grinding against metal.

It lasted about ten minutes. Not a single one of them moved from where they were positioned. A new set of noises and scents assaulted their senses. Birds sang their hearts out as a small stream eroded the land it passed. Ryder raised his hand and gestured for a team to cover each of the doors. It became a fairly awkward moment for them when the walls fell outward. Again, not a single one of them moved as they took in their surroundings, slowly realizing how stupid they looked all bunched up against a wall that was no longer there, preparing to breach a door that they could just walk around. Staring at them were two security groups who looked like they were escorting technicians were just as confused as they were. The soft pfft of pistols going off and two of the outsider groups collapsing made everyone freeze up. A cough and a groan escaped the two guards as they slowly got up.

"You shoot people on sight?" Another cough escaped his lips, the rest of his unit lowering their weapons. "All the guns in this area are loaded with plastic pellets. They're still sting you know?." He slipped his helmet off and nodded at the technicians. "You're free now, stick with them."

"Wait, we're basically..." Ryder's eyes sparkled as he turned to the others. "We win. We definitely win," He lowered his shotgun and shook the older man's hand. "Thank you."

A confused look stayed on his face as his group walked away. The rest of the afternoon was spent arranging their squads and managing their inventory. All in all there were now 35 of them, four combat squads and one support squad. They were reorganized so that Falken, Genevieve, Raisa and Chase led squads of four, leaving Ryder with the technicians.

"So, do we have any objectives? Anything to do?" Ryder sat among the techies with two of the people from his section. "Do you guys have properly defined objectives?"

"Yeah.. we have to take out that thing." The young man pointed towards the massive satellite array in the distance. "We have two people currently working inside..but they can't do anything without getting caught.."

"Access points? Any vents or windows?"

"No windows, and the vent system is a nightmare to navigate. They have it so that every few hours the heat is directed to different sectors."

"And the doors?"

"One. Protected by two machine guns, a sniper and at least two squads. Our incentive for breaking into the place is well I think why we're out here now... why we were taken here. Oh yeah, we were gonna blow that door with dummy explosives, but they can only be set at specific walls and locations to tear them down. Bolt cutters and air soft grenades come standard too."

"Nades huh? What about nav equipment?"

"A map of the area and a compass.."

"They don't want us to know where we are.. fair enough." Ryder stood up and dusted himself off. He let out a high-pitched whistle to grab everyone's attention. "Our objective is to take that station," He pointed to the structure. "We need recon on the structure and a location to establish our camp, Rai and Gen that's your squads. Falken, you're on station to support Genevieve, Chase you're with Raisa. The minimap only reveals what's maybe 30 feet away from us, don't rely on it. You have your orders, move."

There was that silence before everyone scattered. Raisa shrugged and headed off towards the station, accompanied by Gen and their squads, later followed by the two other squads. That left Ryder with his shotgun, and two others armed with PDWs. The techies only had explosives and sidearms, but that was to be expected. Soon they'll be in a position to strike.

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