Chapter 4 New friends and enemies
Chapter 4: New friends and enemies
Now inside the place, we made our way to the top avoiding traps along the way.
“Hey, what’s this?” Noi pointed at an object on the ground.
Curious, she walked closer to inspect it. “Wait!” I yelled but it was too late.
Sleeping gas spread out and Noi fell on the floor asleep, snoring. Cute but not good at the moment.
Snake patted her back. “Get up!” It didn’t work but I had an idea.
!
I tickled her hooves and a smile formed on her face, then she burst out into laugher.
Always works.
“That was a sleeping Gas mine. It sprays out a cloud that will instantly knock anyone out, so watch your step." Noi lowered her ears after I had explained this.
“Okay. I’m sorry.”
“No need, you couldn’t know that.”
We moved upstairs and came to a red door. I looked around. Nothing. Giving the all clear sign, Noi followed.
Before Snake could follow, someone closed the door with force.
“Freeze! Drop your weapon!” a male voice said to me and Noi from behind.
Noi instantly held her hooves up in surrender, I hesitated.
“Drop your weapon!”
“All right…” I dropped my rifle and turned around. A man wearing sunglasses and a balaclava held us at gunpoint.
“P-please don’t shoot.” Noi whimpered which pained me deep. The man was confused as I saw a colorless Question Mark over his head.
Using this moment to look at his weapon, I noticed that the safety was still on.
“You haven’t even taken the safety off, rookie.” I taunted.
“Careful, I’m no rookie! I’m a 10-year vet!" He protested but still checked it.
The door was kicked open, Snake tackled him to the ground and grabbed his rifle, while I quickly picked mine up. Veteran my butt, this guy’s a rookie for sure!
I was a veteran myself, serving a year now in the PMC and a veteran doesn’t make such a mistake.
“How did you even survive 10 years?” Snake asked as if he knew the guy.
“Don’t move!” a female voice ordered. Alerted, Snake saw a woman wearing a balaclava, with a Desert Eagle aimed at us from the front, two men at us to our left.
Snake aimed at the woman, using the “Veteran” as shield, I aimed at the other two men, Noi hugged my leg, trembling.
“FOX…?” Snake recognized a symbol on the woman’s chest.
“Snake?” The woman took her balaclava off, she had blue eyes and red hair. “Snake.”
“Meryl?” he asked in return. They seem to know each other. Meryl spotted Noi.
“Aww, so cute!” She hugged the filly who gasped for air. “Oh sorry.”
Putting Noi down, she cleared her throat and give her men a sign to stand down.
“Akiba!” Meryl ordered and slapped him.
“This is Rat Patrol Team Zero One. We’re with the CID. One of the bodies investigating PMC activity.” She explained, Akiba strike a pose, Ninja style I believe.
“First hounds, now rats.” Snake commented then gave Akiba his rifle back.
“Here, you can have this back.”
Once Akiba took it, his stomach growled and he grunted in pain. “What is your problem?” he asked him.
Noi looked at him worried. “You OK?” He shook his head.
“Stomach pains?” Akiba nodded at Snake’s question. “Diarrhea…”
“So Snake, why is a PMC and that filly with you?” Meryl asked him.
“This PMC soldier leaded me here, but he can explain his situation better then me.”
I cleared my throat. “My name is Edward Smith. I’m in the Praying Mantis PMC. Or better said I was. I’m disconnected from the System.”
Meryl couldn’t believe it.
“That’s impossible!”
“I thought so too. Yesterday, me and my buddy were on patrol and found her. For some reason, the pity we had for her was too much for the system and all suppressed emotions were released, causing us to go into shock.
While I survived it, my buddy had less luck and died. After I realized that I was disconnected, I tried to find a way out of the city and a safe place for her. Snake told me you could help.”
Meryl was speechless. “For real?” I nodded. “Well, yes we're can help. How old are you?”
“17.”
“My guess is that you got disconnected because young soldiers like you are more vulnerable to their emotions then hardened veterans.
What’s your name?” She knelled down to Noi.
“Noi, Ma’am.” She smiled.
“She can talk?”
“Yes, I can.” Noi explained her origin.
“You poor child. Don’t worry, you will be safe with us. And Meryl is just fine.”
Akiba had left for a task.
“Here, I’ll introduce you to the team. That’s Ed, our radio men and sniper.” Ed checked his rifle.
“The sleeping giant is Jonathan.” He had an exclamation mark-shaped hairstyle.
“Don’t stand behind him. He hates it when people go around his back. And finally…”
Akiba came back, with growling stomach. “Johnny. But everybody just calls him Akiba.”
“Commander…I’ve finished installing the sensors.”
As he grunted in pain, Meryl let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. “Ok, Akiba. Here Noi, so you don’t get bored.” She gave the filly an iPod.
“Thanks!” she exclaimed happy.
“You’re welcome.” Meryl ruffled her mane.
While she explained the system to Snake, Noi was sitting on a couch, listing to music. The titles were: Snake Eater, Heavens Divide, Calling to the night, and Love Deterrence.
Noi had her eyes closed, enjoying every second of the songs with a relaxed smile.
Akiba looked out of the window with binoculars. Could it be that he is the same Johnny who was a friend of my father?
I walked next to him. “Can I ask you something, Johnny?”
“Yeah?”
“Is there a reason why your Diarrhea is so bad?”
“Well, I’m scared of needles so I have no Nanomachines in my body who could filter consumed local water. Can Noi and you keep a secret?”
“Of course!” Noi had heard it and walked close to him.
“I have a crush on Meryl.”
“Well, good luck with that. I don’t like syringes either but with big sis holding my hoof, everything is fine! And I know how bad Diarrhea can be. My friend Ruby Pinch has it always when she drinks apple juice.”
Then Noi played a game on the iPod. I couldn’t see it but could hear the music. I knew it from somewhere.
“My father was a good friend of a man named Johnny.”
“Wait, you’re his son?” Akiba asked surprised.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! You expect me to work with my uncle?” Meryl yelled, getting everyone’s attention.
She threw the chair she was sitting on, on the ground and kicked it. “He’s not my father!” She punched the wall in anger.
After that, she picked the chair up and sat down again, complaining how a her “Father” was her uncle to her while keeping her words clean to maintain Noi’s innocence.
Ed looked on a screen and said to Meryl, “Commander!”
“What is it?”
“There’s 20 of them. And they’re not from that PMC, Praying Mantis, either. It’s the FROGS.”
“His private troops.”
Haven Troopers, also known as FROGS, were an army of elite, female soldiers, serving directly under Liquid’s command.
They were equipped with powered suits, which enhanced their physical capabilities beyond that the normal human, allowing them to cling to walls and leap several feet into the air. The vaguely green coloring of the exoskeleton, along with its distinctive abilities, is the reason the Haven Troopers were nicknamed “FROGS.”
I never saw them in action, only heard of it, but saw some of them up close. They don’t like it when someone stares at their chest or their lower body part. One PMC soldier did this once and the FROG kicked him into his lower parts.
The suits were actually tight grey jumpsuits with several pieces of leather-like strips adorning its shoulders and frontal torso. Multiple beige harnesses, straps, and holsters were also wrapped around each Haven Trooper. Their gloves had a physical mechanism hidden within it that tightly stuck to flat surfaces on command, as did their boots, which had small claws on the boot's toes, the mechanism of which was speculated to employ Van Der Waals force. All of this gear is peaked with an intimidating, vaguely skull-like helmet with red glowing eyes. Scary.
Unlike us PMCs, the Nanomachines within their bodies allowed only a minimal psychological deviation from baseline values, meaning that these units felt essentially no emotion in combat, which makes them pretty dangerous. I heard they worked sometimes together with PMC but I never saw that before.
As primary weapon, they used the FN P90, and as sidearm, the Five-seveN as it shares ammo with the P90.
Akiba realized how bad this was. "Oh…This is not good.” Snake and the rat team looked at him after Meryl asked if we been followed, while Noi hugged my leg.
“They might have seen the reflection off my scope lens." We all glared at him, even Noi. "Wait! Hang on…You guys think it was my fault? It wasn’t my fault! I swear!” He collapsed on the ground. “It wasn’t my fault!”
Meryl slapped him. “Dumbass! We’re moving out!”
I got my Mk.17 ready. Snake and Meryl went first, followed by the rest of the rat team, Noi and me. She was scared.
“Eye contact! These guys are with Liquid’s private army. Shoot first, think later. We’ll use the stairs and get out through the back door on the first floor. We’ll change the route as necessary. I’m on point. Stay close. Got it?”
“Got it.” We all said, Johnny was very nervous.
“Akiba. Breathe deep. Noi. We will get you out of here alive, you have my word.”
“Thank you.” She replied a little bit calmer.
“Got it.” Akiba gave a thump up and we moved out.
Noi stayed in cover as we killed the FROGS, Snake used his tranquilizer gun. I was a little bit scared and nervous too without the system keeping my emotions under control, but after all that experience, I was much calmer then before.
I noticed, if a Haven Trooper was killed, the internal Nanomachines combusted, carbonizing them within seconds.
After we got down the stairs, Akiba shit his pants. As FROGS could take a lot of bullets, I got low on ammo. The AK jammed as I switched to it, so I threw it away.
“Here, take this.” Johnny gave me some ammo for my Mk.17.
“Thanks.”
On a floor, Akiba yelled, "Grenade!" Noi screamed in fear as in landed next to her. I was shocked as it was too late to run or throw it away. They got knocked out by the grenade, as I saw stars above their heads. Phew, only a stun grenade.
After we eliminated the troopers, I woke Noi up. “Wakey, wakey!” while Snake woke Akiba up.
Then at a hole to the bathroom downstairs, Johnny deactivated a trap. I helped Noi down.
She was trembling, afraid to die. I patted her. “Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you.”
A bulldozer broke through the wall and stun grenades were thrown. Luckily, we all stayed in cover.
After we all defeated them, I took Noi in my arm as we had to jump down an elevator shaft to a parking garage.
At it, 3 FROGS surrounded the rat team but as the system make it possible to share each other’s senses and controlled pain, they killed all 3 before they could do anything.
Meryl told snake that and asked if his age of heroes is finally over, while he replied that he’s no hero, never was, never will be. For me he is a hero.
Noi cowered against the wall, holding her ears, eyes closed. It was too much for her.
I scooped the filly in my arms and rocked her. It took a few minutes, enough for the rat team to be gone. Snake was still talking on his radio.
After he was finished, he was about to ask why Noi and I were still here, but dropped it as he saw how she was curled up in my arms.
“Stay close.” was all he said.
We moved out to Crescent Meridian which was near the base.
Unknown to us, a FROG had survived. “Trooper 03 to Liquid… I have…something interesting…to report…”
As we reached the exit, some Militiamen were attacking a squad of PMCs.
A BMP-3 IFV broke through on my comrade’s right flank, forcing them to retreat by using a smoke grenade. The Praying Mantis PMC was known to use smoke grenades as a means of escaping disadvantageous situations.
The Militia noticed us. “You’ve got my back?” one of them asked Snake who nodded. “We got your back and keep her safe. Promise.” The rebel smiled at Noi who returned it with a relaxed smile.
We both stayed in cover, leaving the fighting to Snake and the rebels. When the BMP-3 moved, we moved too. It was eventually destroyed but the Militia defeated the PMC.
“We did it!” they cheered. Noi couldn’t bear the screams and shots but I patted her.
“Nothing bad will happen to you with me by your side.” She smiled at my words.
In the next area, the militia used a Caterpillar D9R to tear down barbed wire and tank traps to clear a path for the infantry.
Snake, Noi and I went to cover behind a dumpster.
“Move!” the instructor ordered.
After they passed, the bulldozer was abruptly stopped by something.
The driver tried to move forward at full rev, but as that didn’t work, the instructor gave a sign to check it out.
I spotted a quadrupedal creature blocking the bulldozer and it was sobbing. It lifted the bulldozer slightly up.
The militiamen fired at it but it showed no effect. The driver fled in panic as the creature which looked like a wolf, lifted it more up.
The men behind the bulldozer saw the wolf. “It’s…it’s the Beast!” They tried to run but were sliced by a woman with wings and jetpack if I saw it right.
“Rage…Rage!” she screamed as she flew into the sky and turned around.
The wolf dropped the bulldozer and howled, the rebels that fired at her also tried to run.
One of them walked backwards into a…plant. The “plant” laughed and four long tentacle-like mechanical appendages started to surround him.
A comrade tried to warn him by pointing at it but it was too late.
“Laugh with me!” who woman with a full-face mask covering her entire head squashed the rebel until he was dead. Disgusting and horrified.
I covered Noi’s eyes but she already had buried her head in my chest, as it was too much for her young mind.
The instructor retreated as 3 rebels, one armed with a RPG, arrived. Suddenly the instructor was lifted into the air and he killed his own comrades. Then, violently his body was contorted, breaking his limbs and spine, and he hang in the air as if he was held by strings, then fell dead to the ground.
“It can’t be…” Snake muttered and looked up. “Isn’t that…?” he wondered as I also looked up.
A floating woman was in the sky. She had multiple arms and two dolls held by it. I couldn’t recognize them from the distance.
The Octopus threw one rebel to the ground and impaled another with one tentacle.
Reinforcements arrived, but the flying woman shot missiles at a bridge above them, the debris buried them. “Show me your rage!”
The wolf charged through a group of militiamen, killed by the impact, and knocked the bulldozer over.
The floating woman waved one of her arms. The wolf halted, the flying woman flew away shouting, “Rage! Rage!” while the Octopus woman climbed away using her tentacles.
“Isn’t it funny?”
Their leader made a threating bow and vanished.
Snake and I looked around. That was the Beauty and the Beast Unit. Impressive and scary.
I kept Noi close to my chest as we moved on. She slowly realized that it was over and let out a sigh. “W-what was that?”
“I don’t know.” Snake replied as a broadcast started.
“Acting under contract to local authorities, the Praying Mantis PMC recently restored government control to this sector. Utilizing ArmsTech IRVING unmanned vehicles. We hope you’ll consider the Praying Mantis solution for all your future combat needs.”
After it ended, Snake took 2 PMCs out with a stun grenade. Then he took a lone PMC soldier with his tranquilizer gun.
Two soldiers guarded the entrance, one manning a 2HB .50 caliber heavy machine gun on a Humvee.
“Thanks for your help, Snake. You’re a true hero to us.” I thanked him before we went separate ways.
Still, I had a problem. How should I get Noi out of here? Wait, I know!
My backpack! “Noi, would you get into my backpack? My buddies won’t notice you with that trick.”
“Okay.” She fitted perfectly in, snuggling with the Teddy bear. My heart melted.
Every PMC I meet on my way greeted me, either not noticing that I was disconnected or not caring.
Near a truck that was about to be prepared to move out of the city, I told Noi to get out and wait behind the tent. “Okay, I wait here." She looked up at me with fearful eyes. "Just don’t forget me.”
“Of course not.” I booped her nose and she giggled.
I walked to the soldier that guarded the truck. “Hey comrade, take a break. I will drive.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Suddenly, there was a strange felling in the air after the moo sound of a Gekko echoed.
All soldiers looked confused around.
The System! Its shutting down! I knew it from yesterday.
I was right, as all my comrades collapsed with headaches. Some of them had to vomit, others screamed in pain or began fighting each other.
While I already had experienced it before, I was still affected by it as I became dizzy and tried not to collapse as I tried to walk back to Noi.
But eventually, the pain became too much and I collapsed too.
“Edward!” Noi came to my aid, worried for me. My vision was blurred.
But before she reached me, a Haven trooper, unaffected by the shutdown for some reason, grabbed her. “HELP!!!” She yelled.
I tried to draw my sidearm but my hand was shaking so that I couldn’t aim right.
Noi struggled in the trooper’s arms. “Leave her alone!” Akiba tried to safe her but the FROG responded with an incapacitating kick, knocking him to the ground.
Before Noi was out of sight and my vision blacked out, she screamed loud,” DAAAAADDDDDDY!!!!”
What happens to Noi? And did Edward survive? Only the next 2 chapters will tell. Comments are welcome!
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About the PMC, it will be explained later but long story short, it was the predecessor of the Royal Guard
I'd leave out the fact that it's a sleeping gas mine. Adds to the tension.
I'd definitely draw this out a bit more. Like with the mine. A grenade lands in front of them. Moment of shock and terror. Then it's just a stun grenade.
Builds the tension.
Though I will say you succeeded with the ending.
Be glad it was a "Snake"
...
sorry XD
Be glad it wasn't a Fragmentation Mine
8139399 none taken and yes, she is glad about it