"[So not only are we operating with fewer men, but we're having to rely on those arrogant Gold Coast assholes and those incompetent Luiperds? What kind of bullshit assignment is this?]" one of the Russians questioned, as a few others grumbled.
"[Tell me about it. I'd rather have stayed in prison]" another man replied, as he quietly rolled up the sleeves of his fatigues.
"[Hey I'm glad they're here]" a third Russian stated with a smirk, "[Gives us more shields when this whole op goes down.]"
"[Well, you make a good point]" the second man replied with a laugh. The others soon joined in, as Midoriya surveyed them all. As he did so, he found Uraraka drawing her Beretta and looking at him. Without a word, Midoriya shook his head and motioned for her to put it away.
"No," Midoriya told her, "There's got to be a thousand of these guys in this cave. We can't waste ammo."
"What then? We can't sneak in there," Uraraka pointed out, with Midoriya then humming. Looking back down the vent, he could see that none of the men were armed. Most had left their firearms in the armory or off to the side. And he doubted any of them were expecting an ambush in the command center of all places. A fight would still be loud… but the cave was filled with industrial noises. And the concrete walls looked thick enough to muffle some noise, and Victoria would jam their comms…
"You take five, I take five?" Midoriya inquired, as Uraraka's eyes widened in surprise. Then she looked back down the vent, thinking the proposition over, before nodding. Her arm reached back for her hammer, and Midoriya shifted to the side. Without a word, Uraraka placed the hammer on the vent and returned the weapon's weight. With the solid ton of tungsten now weighing atop it, the entire thing collapsed downward.
"[The fuck!?]" one Russian yelled, as the vents fell out of the roof. Hitting the ground, Midoriya and Uraraka quickly moved and branched apart. Before any of the Russians could react, Midoriya charged out and struck the first man in the jaw. Stumbling back, the man found Midoriya pulling him into a chokehold. Seconds later, he found his head being slammed into a nearby computer.
By then, the others had gotten their bearings.
"[K-kids!?]" one man cried out, as Uraraka slammed the head of her hammer into another merc's chest. Angrily, one punk grumbled next to the man.
"[Stop standing around! Get them!]" the Russian ordered, as he shoved his compatriot forward. Turning around, Midoriya found two of the mercenaries charging at him. The first one punched at him, which Midoriya ducked under, only for the second to try and kick him. Midoriya swiftly blocked the kick with his arm, his exo taking the brunt of the force, before again back-stepping.
As he did this, the four mercs Uraraka was dealing with moved to circle around her.
"[I'm going to snap your neck with that hammer!]" one of them angrily yelled, before he found said hammer sweeping him off his feet. The man was then made weightless by Uraraka grabbing his leg, and he was then swung around and slammed into one of his compatriots. Midoriya, meanwhile, was grabbed from behind by one merc.
Struggling against his captor, Midoriya found the previous two soldiers getting in close.
"[Hold him!]" one of them ordered, before moving to punch him. With little time, Midoriya thrashed about, managed to kick the man in the stomach. With the air knocked out of him, the man stumbled back as Midoriya swiftly elbowed his captor in the gut. Right as the second merc ran in close to slug him. Ducking under another blow, Midoriya grabbed the mercenary's arm and twisted him around. Swiftly, Midoriya then slammed his arm down onto the man's elbow. The mercenary screamed in pain as his arm bent backward and his bone snapped. Quickly, Midoriya kicked him away, before turning back to the thug that previously grabbed him.
"[You're dead now-]" the man began to mutter, as he slowly recovered. Only to find Midoriya's boot slamming into his nose. As if that wasn't enough, Midoriya shot his grappling hook forward and watched the blade stab into his shoulder. With a loud yell in pain, the man struggled to stand as Midoriya pulled him back. Falling forward, the man was greeted with Midoriya slamming his face into his knee.
If his nose wasn't broken before, then the loud, meaty crack that echoed in the room signaled its destruction. It was a sound everyone in the room heard.
"[S-shit!]" one merc yelled, shocked, only to narrowly dodge Uraraka's hammer, swiping past his face. He wasn't so lucky when the girl swept his leg. The mercenary landed on the ground hard, and Midoriya watched as Uraraka hoisted her hammer up before bringing it down fast. She made sure to hold back as best she could, but the tungsten head still hit the merc with a loud crunch.
"[F-fuck! T-that was bone! That was bone snapping!]" the last of Uraraka's thugs yelled in panic. Just then, Midoriya tackled and tripped the second-to-last merc attacking him. With a swift motion, he grabbed the man's leg and twisted, soon breaking his bone. Uraraka, meanwhile, jabbed her hammer forward like a spear and struck her second-to-last mercenary in the stomach. The man keeled over briefly, and Uraraka soon swung her hammer around with a twirl.
The ensuing impact knocked the man off his feet, broke his arm, and sent him flying into a wall. All that remained was one man, whom both Midoriya and Uraraka turned toward. By now, he'd been scrambling to get away from both teens, trying to reach a lone pistol resting on a table. Instead, he looked up to find the two teens eyeing him down. His eyes widened as he rushed to grab the weapon, only for Midoriya's grappling hook to shoot out and yank it away.
Then, charging forward, Midoriya swiftly swept the man's leg, grabbed his face, and slammed him to the ground. With that, no other enemies stood. The room went quiet as Midoriya stepped over an unconscious foe. Spotting one computer still intact, Midoriya quickly walked to it, with his Idroid in hand. As he did this, Uraraka began to look around the room and began to fiddle with some loose files. She looked over them carefully, but as they were all in either Afrikaans, Chinese, or Russian, she didn't fully understand what she was reading.
"Let's see now," Midoriya commented as he finally got close enough to the computer. Plugging his Idroid in and turning the machine on, he let Victoria start digging through files. After a few seconds, he sat back in an office chair while Victoria worked.
"Hey, seems they mapped this place out for us," Victoria would then say, as she displayed a rudimentary map of the caverns.
"Good find," Midoriya noted, before leaning forward for a closer look. The entire place was simply massive. Hundreds of caves and tunnels were filled to the brim with facilities of some kind. There was even a brig. But as time dragged on, Victoria had yet to truly find anything. So Midoriya soon pushed his chair back and slid toward the pile of documents Uraraka was looking over.
Grabbing one for himself, he began to read through them. He found equipment numbers, maps the enemy had made of the area, conversations between the Lieutenant Colonels and their respective nations, contract payments, and surveillance intel of the surrounding area. Troop numbers as well. Luiperd had brought six hundred personnel, and was brought down to three hundred and eighty-six men. Vityaz had four hundred men, and Gold Coast had five hundred. In total, they had a combined one thousand, two hundred and eighty-six personnel.
Aside from personnel numbers, though, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Not until he spotted a new file, titled Operation Hammerhead. Opening it up, Midoriya swiftly flipped the file open and began to read. It seemed decently promising, as the first few papers detailed phase one of their operation. That's how they snuck into the country. Instead of teleportation or a portal quirk as he originally suspected, they had guys with different size-altering quirks shrink their equipment.
So they'd shrink something like a T-90M and smuggle it into the country. And no one noticed because the tank was the size of a toy truck. For all anyone knew, it was just a miniature model for an action figure or a tabletop war game. Then the mercenaries would just sneak inside by hiding amongst refugees and immigrants coming to Outer Heaven. It was deceptively easy.
Now, as Midoriya continued to read, Uraraka eventually turned toward him.
"Anything?" Uraraka asked, as the girl set down a file she'd been reading. Midoriya slowly nodded back, his eyes still skimming over the files' pages. After a while, he'd stumbled onto Operation Hammerhead's phase two. Where scouts had discovered this cave months before the operation had started. Phase two was then, in a sense, to move in and establish an FOB for all three PMCs to use. Flipping to the next page, Midoriya then glanced back at Uraraka.
"Yeah… I know what they're after," Midoriya replied, before holding out the file for her to see. She skimmed over phases one and two before Midoriya flipped to phase three.
"That band of poachers we encountered went rogue," Midoriya began to explain, as he translated the documents for her. The two hundred and fourteen punks had gotten word of the rhinos from local sources and thought they could make a quick buck. So against their commander's wishes, they ran out in search of the animals. Midoriya then turned back to the documents, as he began to read again. Only to slowly grow horrified.
"Their real plan was… to sack Za-Ku-Na… and any surrounding town… They were to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible…" Midoriya continued, slowly trailing off as he read more of the file. That… this mission was a sabotage operation. They were here to terrorize the local populace as much as possible and drag away MSF resources from the front. With the Vityaz and Gold Coast's support… the warlords were going to try and break through the frontline.
"They were going to kill off hundreds, maybe thousands. Then disappear and do it again," Midoriya muttered, disgusted, as Uraraka looked up in horror. They'd raid a town, kill or grab whoever they could, then split up and disappear into this base. Worse yet, this was a proof of concept. Phase four of Operation Hammerhead involved doing this whole thing all over again, only with more troops.
This… this was insane! There was no way in hell it would… work… The MSF was already spread thin… they had sent more men to Japan, had soldiers on contract work helping allies, and thousands of troops guarding a more than two-thousand-mile-long border. If their attack succeeded… Midoriya didn't want to entertain the thought. Instead, he buried himself in the files again.
There had to be more in here. Time tables, dates, something! An agreed-upon time for their attack! So he scoured the documents carefully, rereading all the info he'd already gone over. And then he found it. Vityaz Protection, Gold Coast Defense, and Luiperd Sekuriteit were to attack the town of Za-Ku-Na on July 8th, at 1600. Today. Rapidly, Midoriya searched the area for a clock and found one on a nearby wall. Three P.M. They'd strike in one hour.
They… they had to be stopped. Without a second thought, Midoriya rushed back to the computer he had plugged Victoria into and yanked out his Idroid. Ignoring the protests of the AI, Midoriya rapidly began checking for the right radio frequency. When he finally found it, he took a deep, nervous breath.
"Aunt Kaina?" Midoriya inquired, waiting for the other radio to reply.
"Izuku," Nagant replied, with a calm if furious sigh. As she spoke, the radio picked up the pandemonium going on in the background.
"Our drones lost sight of you. For the love of everything, please tell me everything's alright," Nagant said as Midoriya began to understand her anger. The realization hit him like a truck. He and Uraraka kinda just… disappeared. He didn't call for backup or help; there had been no distress signal from Victoria, and the drones above hadn't heard any gunfire. In fact, he doubted they even saw the PMCs' air defenses. The teens just vanished without a word, and sent the MSF into another panic.
"I'd… like to," Midoriya eventually replied, with some hesitance.
"What's happened?" Nagant demanded, causing Midoriya to start walking back toward Uraraka.
"Nothing yet, but we don't have much time," Midoriya told her, as he spotted Uraraka looking over more files, "We found an underground FOB filled with hostiles not far from Za-Ku-Na. This is going to be a very big ask, but I need you to keep FOXHOUND back, and I need bombers."
The very request caused Nagant to start talking over him.
"Whoa, whoa. You are asking for something big here," Nagant argued, only for Midoriya to hurriedly interrupt her.
"There are a thousand enemy mercenaries in here with tanks. And they're scheduled to attack the nearest town in one hour," Midoriya explained quickly. He knew what he was asking for was a lot, but FOXHOUND wouldn't be enough in this case. They needed this entire cave gone. Every mercenary needed to be dealt with as quickly as possible. And there just wasn't enough time to bring in ground troops. Nagant seemed to ponder that realization for a moment, the woman staying quiet.
"...Where are your coordinates?" Nagant cautiously asked, a tired groan escaping her lips.
"Vicky should provide them," Midoriya replied, as he slowly started to pace in a small circle. On the other end, Nagant shouted orders at other officers present.
"The best I've got at the moment is some B-52s, but they're armed with two-thousand-pound JDAMs, maybe some cruise missiles. Not bunker busters," Nagant soon stated. Reserve aircraft, Midoriya realized. All the more advanced stealth bombers were on the frontline or in Japan. Still, they were B-52s. They'd flatten a mountain if needed. It wouldn't be enough, though.
"What about fighter cover? The enemy has air defense set up, so are there any F-35s available?" Midoriya asked, only to hear a mumble from Nagant.
"None. I only have a squadron of F-15s and 16s in reserve," Nagant replied, with Midoriya groaning. Eagles and Falcons…
"It's good enough," Midoriya decided. They'd eliminate the enemy air defenses before the PMCs had time to defend themselves. Then the bombers would come in and level the place. Simple enough.
"They'll be there as soon as possible," Nagant informed him, and Midoriya thought it over.
"…We… we can work with that," Midoriya told her. They'd grab whatever remaining intel they could, then book it out of the cave. With that thought, Midoriya quickly began grabbing whatever documents he could. His Idroid scanned everything as he did so, creating digital copies. Thinking he'd grabbed enough info, he turned toward Uraraka, ready to leave. Midoriya expected her to be ready as well. Instead, she was looking over a file he'd missed.
"M-Midoriya," Uraraka began, her hands shaking as she looked at the file, "What's this say?"
Confused, Midoriya reached out and grabbed the file as Uraraka swiftly passed it to him. Though in actuality, it was a dozen files cobbled together. The PMCs had seemingly combined this set of reports. Inside it were photos. Dozens of photos, all of… of people. Random people. Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, salesmen, farmers, autoshop workers, bus drivers, highway patrolmen. Families on a picnic, kids playing in fields, men exploring a… cave… this cave.
Reading the file further, Midoriya found names. A full list of names stretching from the top of the paper to the bottom. Along with recorded heights, weights, skills, ages, and when they were taken.
"It's… It's a prisoner list," Midoriya muttered, shocked, "They have people locked up here."
The buildings outside weren't abandoned; their occupants had been dragged here. The PMCs had moved into this cave, and not wanting any witnesses, had then broken into these people's homes. They dragged them from their houses, stripped them of their belongings, locked them away in this cave, and forced them to work. They grabbed anyone who so much as walked by this cave.
"We have to get them out of here," Midoriya said, determined. They weren't leaving here without them. They couldn't leave here without them. The PMCs had grabbed innocent men, women, and children, and kept them locked down her for weeks.
"What about the bombers?" Uraraka asked worriedly as Midoriya moved for the vent above them. He knew she wanted to save them as much as he did. But she was right. Nagant was scrambling bombers as they spoke. If he tried to call them off, they ran the risk of arriving too late. By then, the PMCs would have anti-air radars up and running. This would require either stealth aircraft or ground forces to eliminate, forcing the MSF to withdraw troops from the border. There was no clean solution to this issue.
"We're going to be cutting it close," Midoriya told her, before grappling into the vent above. With Uraraka behind him, Midoriya swiftly pulled up the map Victoria had found. The brig was unfortunately far away. Not to mention filled to the brim with guards. Midoriya repeatedly found himself crawling through the base's tunnels or swinging above the mercs' heads.
It took ten full minutes before he arrived at the brig's entrance. At first, it seemed like an issue. The brig was blocked off by a foot-thick steel door. Any attempts through it would need explosives. However, there was an easy alternative. The cave's drainage tunnels. This cave likely tended to flood, and as such, the PMCs had dug into the floor, tunneling a small drainage area where floodwater would fall into. Now the tunnels were large enough that a person could fit inside them to accommodate all the rainwater.
And as this base wasn't fully finished yet, it meant the drainage tunnel went right under the brig's door. So without wasting any more time, Midoriya yanked open the first grate he saw, and dropped into the floor. Moving forward, he began to hear people talking.
"[Why is it we're the ones on guard duty?]" a man asked in Chinese, "[This seems like the only job those incompetent Luiperds and Russians would be good at.]"
"[You kidding? If they were in charge, we'd find every prisoner dead within an hour]" another man argued, as Midoriya came to a slow stop. Peeking out of the grate, he couldn't see anyone around. Without a word, he climbed out and helped Uraraka get up.
"[Wouldn't that be a good thing? Last I checked, the order was no witnesses]" the first man argued. Now outside the grate, Midoriya looked above him. Finding a vantage point, he wasted no time grappling up to it. From up above, he watched as soldiers patrolled the area. Midoriya also saw Uraraka quickly dive into the shadows, quickly hiding herself in plain sight.
"[Well, somebody had to build this place up. Or would you rather do it?]" A third man decidedly spoke up, while Midoriya quietly surveyed everyone.
"[Hell no. This cave is hot as shit already]" the first soldier replied.
"[That's what I thought]" the third man muttered. As he went quiet, Midoriya began to count up the enemies present. The brig itself was shaped almost like an oval and stretched out pretty far. Concrete cells and makeshift cages littered the room, creating a grid-like pattern on the ground. At the same time, cells were stacked atop each other recklessly, giving the room an odd second level that was only reachable by a series of catwalks. These catwalks wrapped around the brig's walls before crisscrossing around the second level of cells.
Large flood lights hooked up to generators lit up the room. However, they left large dark spots in the brig's corners or between some cells. The room's main centerpiece, though, was the massive stone pillar that stretched from the floor to the roof. On it, bits of rock sprawled out, creating vantage points Midoriya could grapple to. The PMCs knew this. As such, they'd set up a makeshift panopticon at the top. Which was complete with a circular balcony, which had two snipers quickly watching from above.
They hadn't spotted him yet, but Midoriya was sure it would only be a matter of time. So Midoriya decided to start moving. Shooting his grapple upwards, he hooked onto the balcony's railing. Pulling himself forward, Midoriya heard the prisoners below him murmur loudly.
"[M-mommy, w-when can we g-go home?]" a child asked, crying. Seconds later, Midoriya reached the balcony and grabbed onto the platform. Instead of pulling himself up, though, he elected to climb around and hang onto the balcony itself.
"[Sssh, sweetie]" the mother replied, not wanting to worry their child more, "[We'll… we'll go home soon.]"
Just as she said this, Midoriya began to hear a man loudly talking to himself. Looking down, he found the man inside a large cage, rocking back and forth quickly.
"[Sweet lord above please, I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. Thou who art in heaven, hallow be thy name…]" the man began to say, shuddering as he continued to rock.
"[Daddy… w-where are you?]" another child asked, terrified. No voice answered his cry, so the child asked again, more desperate than before. Compared to the others Midoriya could see, he was much better fed. In all likelihood, he was a more recent capture.
"[What's the point!? We're going to die here!]" one prisoner finally yelled, his words panicked and crazed.
"[Don't say that! We're going to make it out of-]" another prisoner argued, only for a guard to smack the cell bars.
"[Quiet! All of you!]" the guard ordered, before returning to his patrol. That was, until one prisoner scoffed.
"[Fuck you!]" the prisoner yelled back, "[If you think for even a second that you bastards are going to get away with this-]"
"[I said quiet!]" the guard again ordered, yet the prisoner didn't care. Through the dimly lit cell bars, Midoriya could see that the prisoner was adorned in a green police uniform. A patrolman from Za-Ku-Na, one who'd unknowingly gotten too close to the PMCs' base. Both he and the guard continued to argue, the officer uncaring of whether he'd die. It was somewhat admirable, an attempt to inspire confidence in the other prisoners. But it would matter little if he were shot.
Quietly, Midoriya began to think up a plan, as he again surveyed the enemies below. Counting the snipers, there were twenty-three guards present. All were part of Gold Coast, and carried Chinese weaponry. Standard Chinese-issued assault rifles, pistols, shotguns… You know, the more Midoriya looked at them, the more he began to notice something. The guards below were all dressed and equipped… kinda like video game enemies.
It sounded dumb, but each guard had an oddly distinct look. There were standard riflemen, twelve of them littering the brig, all armed with QBZ-95s and QBZ-191 assault rifles. Riflemen were rather generic-looking, dressed in the usual Type-07 fatigues with the universal camo pattern, Type-06 ballistic vests, knee, and shoulder pads. With how hot the cave was, some riflemen had their sleeves rolled up, their fatigue jackets or shirts taken off. Some wore their QGF-03 combat helmets, others didn't, and instead had a bandana wrapped around their head, a plain baseball or patrol cap, or simply nothing at all.
Then there were shotgunners, three of them, who were similarly dressed to riflemen, but had fingerless gloves with cross chest bandoliers of shotgun shells atop their ballistic vests. One of them wore a balaclava, even with the sweltering heat of the cave; another had sunglasses hanging off his shirt, and a third had ski goggles on top of his helmet. The red of the shotgun shells made them stick out far more than riflemen. All while armed with a Type-97 shotgun. Then there were the two snipers above him, armed with QBU-141 sniper rifles adorned in makeshift camo netting or a boonie hat, along with possibly night vision goggles.
The next two appeared to be medics, both dressed in more pale fatigues. They were still camouflaged when compared to the cave, but their uniforms had a lot more white to them. Along with their helmets or arm sashes holding red crosses. They also had a large travel bag or a camo backpack with them, likely holding medical supplies. This was, however, contrasted by the QCQ-171 and QCW-05 submachine guns.
Two machine gunners were up next, both with belts of ammo wrapped around their arms and torso, along with a thicker Type-15 ballistic vest. The most striking and obvious feature, though, was the QJY-88 LMGs in their hands. Only two enemies remained, the second to last being a grenadier. He wore a chest rig and belt adorned with 40mm grenades, a QGF-03 combat helmet. His shirt's sleeves were rolled up and charred black, and a pair of goggles sat on top of his helmet.
Unlike the others, he had a QBL-06 grenade launcher. A worrying increase in firepower. But if anything, the grenadier's presence made Midoriya relieved. Because the final enemy was a minigunner. Now, the name Midoriya chose was somewhat misleading. The minigunner did not have a minigun. However, the brute had to be seven feet tall and was carrying a modified QJC-88 heavy machine gun like a chainsaw.
Minigunner felt like an apt description. The man had a very obvious strength quirk that meant he was just rippling with muscle. He wore a camo tank top covered by a large ballistic vest, a combat rig covered in pouches, combat boots the size of Midoriya's head, thick fingerless gloves, and a massive QGF-03 combat helmet with a balaclava. The man carried a backpack loaded with ammo drums for his machine gun. All in all… it was a tall order. Twelve riflemen, three shotgunners, two snipers, two medics, two machine gunners, one grenadier, and one minigunner.
But Midoriya wasn't one to back down. So still clambering around the balcony, he found his first target. One of the snipers had come to a stop and now surveyed the area below with his QBU-141. Seeing an opportunity, Midoriya climbed around underneath him. So focused on his sniper's scope, the man didn't notice Midoriya below him. At the same time, his compatriot was on the other side of the balcony.
Just as the sniper was about to move, Midoriya jumped up and pulled the man into a chokehold. With his leg holding onto the railing, Midoriya kept the man restrained. Desperately, the sniper tried to free himself, grabbing and pulling Midoriya's arm. He tried to elbow him, but his strikes missed and either flew over the teen's head or hit the metal railing. Soon, the man fell unconscious, and Midoriya dropped him onto the balcony's floor.
With one man down, Midoriya again clambered around the panopticon, heading toward the second sniper. As he did so, he heard the guards grow ever more annoyed with the prisoners below. The cop continued to taunt the mercs, only infuriating them further.
"[Just shoot him already!]" a shotgunner finally yelled, annoyed, as the riflemen near the cop's cell loudly groaned.
"[You know what, why not? Let's call it an escape attempt gone wrong]" the riflement stated, as Midoriya found the man walking toward the cop's cell. His eyes widened in panic, and he began to climb around a little faster. Reaching the second sniper, Midoriya knew he needed to stop the execution. And an idea came to mind, a risky idea. With his legs wrapped around the railing to keep him from falling, he wrapped his grappling hook's cable around the sniper's legs.
He didn't wrap it tightly, as otherwise the sniper would have noticed. But enough so that it would be pulled tightly like a knot when pulled on. Then Midoriya released some of his grappling hook's cable and tied it around the railing. With his preparations complete, Midoriya moved. In a split second, he jumped up and grabbed the sniper by the jacket.
"[W-what!?]" was all the man could utter before Midoriya pulled him over the railing and let him fall. The man yelled in terror, the noise alerting everyone in the cave. Now he dangled in the air, screaming. Quickly, Midoriya pulled himself over the railing and booked it to the other side of the panopticon. All while soldiers below started to move.
"[Who's shouting!? What's going on!?]" The grenadier demanded, as Midoriya saw a pair of riflemen run past him. At the same time, he spotted the machine gunners hunkering down between the halls. Unlike the others, the machine gunners moved to lock down potential areas where Midoriya could come from. Smart, were it not for the floor grates below and vantage points above them.
"[It came from over there!]" a shotgunner then yelled, booking it toward the central pillar. Seconds before they arrived, Midoriya jumped and swung back to a small rock vantage point. Looking back, he found two riflemen, a shotgunner, and a medic looking up in shock at the thrashing sniper.
"[What in the world?]" one rifleman muttered, as the sniper continued to scream.
"[G-get me down from here!]" the sniper pleaded, while the others looked around for something to use to help him.
"[How did you get up there!?]" The medic asked, shocked, only for the sniper's movements to slow down.
"[J-just help me…]" the sniper begged, before falling unconscious.
"[Fuck!]" the shotgunner would exclaim, "[Somebody get a ladder-]"
"[Holy shit, I've got a man down over here!]" a different shotgunner would loudly interrupt. He surprised even Midoriya, as the teen looked toward the voice's source. On the ground level, he spotted a rifleman lying on the floor unconscious. A visible red mark was present around his throat, brought on by something heavy choking him out. Uraraka, Midoriya mentally deduced. It was hard, but he soon spotted her crawling through the floor grates.
At the same time, he heard the minigunner groan angrily, the man lumbering around the cells with his gun.
"[Somebody's here!]" the minigunner called out, "[Spread out, and find them!]"
Hearing the order, Midoriya quickly started moving again and swung from vantage point to vantage point. Finding an empty spot on the ground floor, Midoriya carefully dropped down. Deciding to join Uraraka in the grates, he quickly raised one and dropped into the tunnel. Moving around carefully, he found his next set of targets. A lone shotgunner and a rifleman. Getting in close, Midoriya froze as the shotgunner began staring at the floor.
"[Wait…]" the shotgunner muttered, as the rifleman looked at the shotgunner, and then the grate. Staying perfectly still, Midoriya waited for a moment, the rifleman slowly growing impatient.
"[What?]" the rifleman questioned, the shotgunner continuing to stare at the floor. Eventually, he sighed and turned away.
"[...Nothing. I thought I saw something below us-]" the shotgunner began to say, and Midoriya lept out of the vents. Both men rapidly turned toward him, only to find Midoriya already grabbing them by the neck. In seconds, he slammed both of them to the ground, the noise of bone cracking loudly echoing through the cave. Then, with little time, he opened the grate and rolled back into the drainage tunnel.
"[I heard something! That way!]" a rifleman shouted, Midoriya soon hearing footsteps approach his position. Quietly, he began moving in the opposite direction, toward a section of cells shaded in darkness. Hopping out of the tunnel, Midoriya quickly clung to a nearby wall, hiding under its shadow. Peeking around the corner, he spotted two riflemen coming to a stop next to his buddies.
"[Crap, found another two down over here!]" one man yelled, his eyes soon surveying the surrounding halls, "[I need a medic over here!]"
"[Heading your way!]" one medic replied, as Midoriya heard the man running toward the two riflemen. All the while, they both kept watch of the surrounding halls, constantly moving their QBZ-95s from hall to hall.
"[This is getting ridiculous. The hell's going on!?]" one of them angrily demanded.
"[Ain't it obvious! Somebody's toying with us]" the other replied gruffly, just as the medic arrived. Crouching down, the medic slung his QCQ-171 over his shoulder and began digging through his medical bag.
"[Is he going to be ok?]" one of the riflemen asked, as the medic continued to search his bag.
"[Gimme a minute to find out-]" the medic began to reply, before Midoriya shot his grappling hook and snagged onto the man's shoulder.
"[Agh!]" was all the riflemen heard when Midoriya began dragging the medic toward him. At blistering speed, the medic tried to cling to the nearby cell walls. Only for his grip to continually fail him.
"[No, no, no, no!]" the medic yelled out, as the riflemen gave chase, "[Help me!]"
"[Shit, grab him!]" one of the riflemen exclaimed, diving forward to grab the medic's hand. Instead, he missed, and Midoriya pulled the medic into the shadows. Choking him out behind the wall, Midoriya found both riflemen switching on their guns' attached flashlights. None of them saw him as he dragged the medic into the drainage tunnel.
"[I lost him! W-where'd he go!?]" one of the riflemen shouted, as the other continued to check the shadows.
"[Doc!?]" The man called out.
"[Losing my fucking mind-]" the other rifleman began to mutter. Only to be interrupted by a loud crunch echoing through the cave. Mere moments later, the grenadier spoke up again.
"[N-no… there's another man down!]" the grenadier yelled, spawning panic amongst the guards again.
"[W-we're being picked off one by one!]" a shotgunner yelled, only for the minigunner to lambast him.
"[Keep calm, and remember your training! There's more of us than them!]" the minigunner shouted, only for a medic to loudly protest.
"[We don't even know how many of them there are!]" the medic argued. Panic continued to spread amongst the mercenaries. Panic that was quickly overheard by the prisoners. As Midoriya crawled through the drainage tunnel, he heard prisoners in nearby cells begin to speak up.
"[I-is someone out there? Please, help us! We're over here!]" a prisoner begged, while Midoriya crawled past them.
"[Please! I d-don't want to die! Help us!]" a woman begged tearfully. On and on the cries went. But it wasn't just desperate pleas Midoriya heard, no.
"[Scared now, punks!? I told you bastards you'd pay for this!]" the police officer yelled, as another man laughed in his cell.
"[You're screwed now asshats!]" a firefighter taunted, still laughing.
"[S-shut up! All of you! Another word and you're dead-]" one of the riflemen began to order. But by then, Midoriya had gotten out of the drainage tunnel. Grappling up to a nearby vantage point, he'd looked down on the guard and embedded his grappling hook in the stone pillar. Then, like in Tokyo, he jumped off, fell, and grabbed the guard. The man screamed as he was yanked upward, and again as Midoriya dropped him. He continued to scream as he dangled off the stone protrusion. But his screams were drowned out by more laughs.
"[Haha yeah! Kick their asses!]" the firefighter encouraged, as more voices began to sound off.
"[Show them who's boss!]" a woman yelled.
"[This is what happens when you fuck with our home!]" the previous police officer proclaimed.
"[You bastards are screwed!]" a third man yelled, laughing with the others. Hearing this, the minigunner grumbled loudly while marching between the cells. As he did so, Midoriya spotted a new target and dropped down onto the second-floor catwalk. A machine gunner had moved from his post, now repositioning to a better spot. Yet his attempts were in vain, as Midoriya snuck up behind him. Grabbing the man, he pulled his arms upward, using his own machine gun to choke him out. Once he was unconscious, Midoriya dropped him and rapidly began moving forward.
"[Everybody sound off! Who's still here?!]" the minigunner demanded, the guards soon calling out one by one. Unintentionally, they helped Midoriya learn just who was left. The loud crunch from earlier was from Uraraka taking down an unsuspecting machine gunner with her hammer. Stumbling onto the man's unconscious body, Midoriya found that the man's QJY-88 had taken the brunt of the force.
The lack of call-outs, though, told him Uraraka had been as busy as he was. The guards had two shotgunners, the grenadier, the minigunner, and five riflemen left.
"[Nine of us left… form teams of two!]" the minigunner ordered, narrowly walking into Midoriya as he dove into the drainage tunnel. Having missed the teen, the minigunner kept moving forward. Hopping out of the vent, Midoriya quickly began moving through the winding halls and found a shotgunner and rifleman moving back to back. Not wanting to get in close, Midoriya drew his ACR and peeked around the corner.
Aiming, Midoriya swiftly fired at the two men, rapidly sending a dozen rounds their way. With six tranquilizers for both of them, the mercenaries barely had time to react before they collapsed to the floor. Another two down, Midoriya started to move forward again. Gunfire then echoed through the cave, and Midoriya feared Uraraka had been spotted. Until the shots came to a quick end.
"[H-hold your fire damn it!]" one rifleman yelled terrified.
"[S-sorry!]" the last shotgunner quickly replied, only for the rifleman to smack him.
"[Switch on your flashlight moron!]" the rifleman exclaimed. Seconds later, he swore under his breath and started moving forward. Grappling back up again, Midoriya spotted Uraraka standing on a vantage point ahead of him. Motioning to her, Midoriya found the girl quickly waving back.
"[Utterly ridiculous. Do I need to spell this out?! They're attacking from above! Destroy the vantage points!]" the minigunner suddenly yelled, and both teens' eyes widened.
"[R-right! On it!]" the grenadier replied, and Midoriya spotted the man readying his grenade launcher. Not wanting to lose their advantage, both Midoriya and Uraraka came to a quiet agreement on their next move. Swinging and floating forward, both teens narrowly missed the first grenade, which blew up Uraraka's original location. Dropping onto the ground floor, both teens silently moved forward until they found the grenadier. He stood alongside a rifleman, who kept careful watch of the surrounding halls with his QBZ-191.
Seeing this, Midoriya motioned for Uraraka to cover her eyes. Pulling out a flash bang, Midoriya tossed it and shut his eyes. A blinding light covered the area for a few seconds, along with the shocked yells of their enemies. Opening his eyes, Midoriya rushed forward with Uraraka behind him. She tripped up the blinded rifleman with her hammer before slamming his face into a nearby wall.
Midoriya targeted the grenadier and grabbed him in a chokehold. Not letting the man break free, Midoriya slammed his arm onto the demo's head, striking him on the temple. With both unconscious, the teens quickly booked it as the other guards started heading toward them. Five guys left.
"[W-we're better than this! We were trained for this!]" the final shotgunner yelled. Moments later, two riflemen found the grenadier and his buddy.
"[A-another two down… we're next, I know it!]" one of them yelled, only for the minigunner to growl.
"[Keep calm, remember your training!]" the minigunner ordered, his words doing little to help them. As he spoke, Midoriya and Uraraka had elected to stick together now, it being much harder to pick the guards off one by one now that they were in squads. Sneaking through the drainage tunnel again, the two found the last shotgunner and a rifleman climbing a ladder onto the catwalk.
Not wanting them to get away, the teens hopped out of the tunnel and grappled up onto the catwalk. Sneaking up behind the two, Uraraka wrapped her hammer around the shotgunner's neck, while Midoriya grabbed and restrained the rifleman. Choking them both out quietly, the two moved onwards towards the last two riflemen. Both of which were anxiously eyeing every shadow.
"[We're dead… w-we're fucking dead!]" one of the riflemen yelled, as Midoriya spotted the two moving on the ground below them. Seeing a spot where the catwalk passed right over them, the teens quietly followed the guards from above. The moment the two guards turned and began walking down a different hall, both Midoriya and Uraraka jumped off the catwalk. Landing on top of the guards, neither had time to react as Midoriya slammed one grunt's head to the ground, and Uraraka did the same with the other. With both men down, only one guy was remaining.
"[Sound off, who's left?]" the minigunner asked, Midoriya hearing the man's voice coming from behind them. Rapidly, he motioned for Uraraka to split up. Midoriya grappled up to a still intact vantage point, and Uraraka dove for the drainage tunnels. Mere seconds later, the minigunner rounded the corner.
"[Damn it sound off!]" the minigunner demanded. Being met with no answer, it became clear to the giant just what was wrong.
"[Just me then]" the minigunner muttered, angling his QJC-88 down the hall. Slowly, he walked forward, keeping watch of every possible direction.
"[Come on… show yourself!]" the man demanded, still walking forward. Midoriya decided to do just that. Spotting Uraraka through a grate, Midoriya quietly signalled for her to wait. Only when the minigunner was right over her did he motion for her to move. Jumping from the grate, Uraraka used the weight of her hammer to pull the minigunner backwards. Shocked by the sudden weight, the minigunner was brought off balance. He was even less prepared when Midoriya jumped off his vantage point and landed on the man's stomach.
Keeling back, the minigunner found Uraraka releasing him from her hammer's grasp, only for the tungsten head to swing around and strike him in the leg. Bone cracked, the minigunner yelped in pain. Jumping forward, Midoriya effectively suplexed the man, slamming his head into the ground. Uraraka finished him off by striking his chest with her hammer. With that final blow, the minigunner collapsed, dropping his machine gun to the side.
For a brief moment, neither Midoriya nor Uraraka said a word. Instead, they both just breathed. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Midoriya looked down at the minigunner carefully. With him logically being the guy in charge, Midoriya began to search his person. Just as he suspected, the minigunner had a set of keys in his pockets. Grabbing them, Midoriya began to head towards the nearest cell.
"[I-is… is that all of them?]" one of the prisoners asked warily.
"[Hello? Help us! I beg of you!]" another begged, just as Midoriya reached the first cage. Coming into some small light, Midoriya found the prisoners inside looking back, shocked. Ignoring their shock, Midoriya brought up a comforting smile and swiftly opened the cage.
"[Hey, hey, it's fine. Everything's going to be ok]" Midoriya told them, before Uraraka walked up next to him. Quietly, he opened the cage and passed her some of the cells' keys.
"[K-kids?]" one of the prisoners questioned, surprised, stepping out of the cage.
"[I… I don't believe it]" a female prisoner commented while Uraraka opened her cell's door.
"[Two teens… saved us]" an old man muttered, astonished, as Midoriya then helped him to his feet. Both he and Uraraka went through cell after cell, trying to free as many people as they could. In the end, forty people were released from their cells. Some of the forty, mostly the police officer from earlier, along with a few other emergency service personnel, began to scavenge off the unconscious guards. They grabbed whatever guns they could before circling back towards Midoriya. Uraraka, meanwhile, tried to comfort the other prisoners as best she could.
"[Thank you… Thank you so much]" one woman told her, tears streaming down her face.
"[I-I-I-I… I thought we were never going to get out of here]" another man muttered, while Uraraka looked between everyone. She had no clue what they were saying, but did her best to help regardless.
"You're safe now, it's going to be ok," Uraraka told them all, while Midoriya turned back to face one of the emergency service personnel.
"[Still surprised a pair of kids saved us]" the firefighter from earlier muttered, as a female soldier nodded in agreement.
"[Thanks for that]" the police officer said, only for Midoriya to wave him off.
"[We were just in the area]" Midoriya replied, soon rubbing the back of his head, "[Now we've just got the issue of getting everyone out of here.]"
"[...Do you know the way?]" the police officer asked worriedly.
"[We have a map… but this place is crawling with contacts]" Midoriya explained carefully, "[I don't think five people will be enough to fight them all.]"
Assuming the rest of these people were veterans, then they could possibly fight off some of the PMCs' men. But they were still grossly outnumbered. They'd need to be FOXHOUND-level capable for there to even be a chance of escaping in a firefight. But then one prisoner soon piped up.
"[T-there's another exit nearby]" a young boy said, holding up his hand for Midoriya to see him. Turning toward him, the boy quickly flinched, seemingly regretting the attention he'd now brought onto himself. But he took a deep breath and stepped forward.
"[B-before these people came… me and my brother used to explore these caves]" the boy cautiously explained, the kid nervously looking down at his feet. After being held captive for days, Midoriya didn't blame him for being nervous. He'd been the same when Snake first saved him. Eventually, the boy looked back up before pointing toward one of the cave's walls.
"[I-in one of these c-caves, there should be a hole in the ceiling, large enough for a helicopter to fit through]" the boy told him, causing Midoriya to think for a moment.
"[Where?]" Midoriya asked, before holding his Idroid in front of the boy. Displaying the cave's map, the boy began cautiously tracing his finger over the hologram, mentally mapping the route. It wasn't a long trip. A five-minute walk at most, and if they stuck to the floor grates, they'd be out of here soon.
"[That could work]" Midoriya muttered aloud, and swiftly turned toward the police officer, "[Gather up everyone you can, and follow us.]"
The man looked hesitant for a moment, a bit unsure if he should be following the orders of a teen. But after considering the twenty incapacitated mercenaries in the room, he elected to follow along. Within moments, the officer, firefighter, and soldier rounded everyone up. Following the boy's route, Midoriya brought everyone to the main floor grates. Hopping inside, they all quietly moved forward, zigging through the maze of tunnels inside the floor.
Every so often, the entire line of people would freeze, as a band of Vityaz, Luiperd, or Gold Coast guards would pass by. And for a few solid seconds, they would lie low in the drainage tunnel's muck. A Vityaz shotgunner would glimpse at a grate, a Luiperd rifleman would toss a still-lit cigarette inside the tunnel, or a Gold Coast machine gunner would open a tunnel up for cleaning.
Then they would leave, allowing them to move forward again. The anxiety of it all had Midoriya on edge. When they finally reached the end of the tunnel, Midoriya found the cavern the boy mentioned. Carefully, everyone filed out of the grates and through the small tunnel. There, Midoriya saw light. Not from one of the PMCs' flood lights, but instead from the sun itself. Stepping into the cave fully, Midoriya found himself stepping onto grass.
The area was a pit cave, one large enough to fit a helicopter, like the boy said. The top of it was surrounded by trees, grass, shrubs, and even a waterfall. The bottom of it, where Midoriya stood, was equally filled with plant life and a pond connected to the waterfall. This was good, Midoriya thought to himself. With it being open air, they could Fulton everybody out of here. So Midoriya quickly got to work. Pulling out a Fulton from his bag, he turned toward the crowd of civilians.
"[Everybody together, form two single file lines]" he told them, approaching the first person in line. Slowly, he and Uraraka began to whittle down the crowd of prisoners. They'd strap the Fulton device onto them, ensure everything was tight enough, watch as they shot up into the air, and then move onto the next person. Right as Midoriya started helping the boy from earlier, he heard Nagant's voice play through his earpiece.
"Izuku, the bombers are five minutes out. Are you out of the cave yet?" Nagant asked, making Midoriya flinch.
"Negative, we are still inside," Midoriya replied quickly, and pulled the Fulton's straps tightly, "The enemy has captured civilians, we are extracting them now."
"Hurry," was all Nagant replied with. But Midoriya could hear the hidden panic. So he kept working, now faster than before. He started helping two people at a time, while Uraraka started helping three. The only ones left were the soldier, the firefighter, and the police officer. All of whom had been standing guard by the cave entrance. As the last civilian drifted upward, Midoriya looked toward them.
"[You three now]" Midoriya stated, getting the next Fulton ready for them. The three looked back at him hesitantly.
"[You sure? I'm not comfortable leaving you kids here]" the soldier told him, as she kept her borrowed QBZ-95 trained toward the entrance.
"[We'll follow you out in a minute]" Midoriya told her, motioning them forward all the while. The firefighter was the first to relent and walk toward him. The police officer followed seconds later, with the soldier right behind him. Rapidly, Midoriya strapped them into their harnesses. All three gave a quick salute that Midoriya didn't know what to think of, and they drifted upward.
With that done, Midoriya began digging into his bag, searching for a pair of Fultons for him and Uraraka. Only to find none. His eyes shot down to his bag, and he found it empty. Midoriya looked toward Uraraka, only to see she had the same look he did. As if things couldn't get worse, Nagant chimed in again.
"One minute out. Where are you?" Nagant demanded, causing Midoriya to begin looking around, panicked. He could hear it now, the loud roar of engines slowly getting closer by the second.
"Still inside the cave!" Midoriya rapidly replied, before looking up the pit cave. It didn't seem too high, so Uraraka could float them out if needed. However, the B-52s were only a minute out. They'd drop their payload and likely hit him and Uraraka by accident. If needed, they could have the bombers circle back-
"Enemy SAMs are coming up!" Victoria suddenly exclaimed, making Midoriya's eyes go wide, "I've got eyes on tanks preparing to move out!"
His eyes darted to his Idroid's clock as he quickly pulled the device out. They had thirty seconds until the PMCs started moving. Thirty seconds, and the PMCs would have the airspace locked down, unless the bombers struck now.
"The bombers will circle back-" Nagant began to tell him, before Midoriya loudly cut her off.
"Tell them to drop! Danger close!" Midoriya exclaimed as he turned and grabbed Uraraka by the hand. Running for dear life, he booked it back into the cave. Floating out of the pit meant death, but taking the long route back would hopefully shield them from some of the blast.
"I'm not letting them until you're outside the hot zone!" Nagant told him, all while Midoriya continued to run with Uraraka in tow.
"Do it! They're moving to attack right now!" Midoriya told her, "We'll make it out!"
Nagant's end went quiet for a moment, and Midoriya was unsure what she would do. But… as dangerous as this was, it needed to happen. There wasn't enough time for anything else.
"...Please… don't die," Nagant pleaded, "Run."
She didn't have to tell him twice. Without a second thought, Midoriya continued to run through the twisting caverns. Uraraka's hand slipped from his grasp, but as he turned toward her, she just pointed forward.
"Don't stop! I'm right behind you!" Uraraka told him, running up behind him. Seconds ticked by before the inevitable finally arrived. Dust and dirt fell from the ceiling. The ground shook as the muffled explosions outside the cave tore the area apart. Taking a hard right down one tunnel, Midoriya found himself face to face with a squad of Luiperd soldiers. All of them looked up at the roof as the cave shook again.
"[The fuck is that-]" one of them began to ask, before the entire ceiling collapsed above them. Men shouted as thousands of tons of rock dropped on top of them.
"[Cave in!]" one man shouted, as they all booked it out of the caverns. Rapidly, Midoriya turned and booked it in the other direction, running through a new tunnel. Within a few seconds, he'd entered a much more open tunnel. It was still cramped, with the ceiling being only a few feet above him, but it was better than what he had run through before. Rock fell from the ceiling, as more tunnels began to cave in. All while more mercenaries began to scramble. And then one merc saw them. Midoriya didn't know who it was, or where they were, but he most definitely heard them.
"[There! Intruders!]" a Vityaz rifleman yelled, readying his AK-74M. Within seconds, Midoriya found a dozen pairs of eyes fall on him. Rapidly, he dove for cover behind a stalactite, a squad of Vityaz troops opening fire on him. Three riflemen with AK-74Ms, a shotgunner with an RMB-93, and a medic with a PP-19 all bore down on him and Uraraka. All of them had to be crazy. Drawing his ACR, Midoriya swapped his mag of tranq rounds for regular bullets. Quickly, he peeked over cover and began firing toward his first target.
An exposed rifleman was torn apart in seconds, before Midoriya ducked back down. At the same time, Uraraka drew her Beretta 92 and opened fire. Not at the Vityaz squad, but instead at the Luiperd squad emerging from a tunnel.
"On our right!" Uraraka shouted, with Midoriya whipping his head around. Spotting the squad emerging from the tunnel, he pulled a grenade from his bag.
"[W-wait, it's them! It's the brats who killed the others!]" one of the Luiperd mercs, a grenadier, yelled, hiding behind the cave wall as Uraraka shot at them. He wasn't given the chance to aim his Milkor MGL.
"[Return fire, damn it!]" a rifleman lambasted, right as Midoriya tossed his grenade. It landed square at the squad's feet. It exploded in seconds, killing those hiding in the tunnel. Mere moments later, a JDAM collapsed the tunnel onto the survivors. The sight left Midoriya horrified, as more of the cavern began to fall.
"This entire place is crumbling!" Uraraka exclaimed in panic, while Midoriya again peeked over cover.
"Keep moving forward! I'll cover you!" Midoriya told her, before firing at the Vityaz mercs again. The enemy shotgunner, who'd been busy trying to flank Midoriya from the side, soon found the barrel of Midoriya's gun staring back at him. Six rounds flew forward, and the shotgunner was torn to bits. Midoriya then directed the rest of his fury to the other mercs in front of him.
Emptying the mag from his gun, Midoriya watched as Uraraka ran forward. With hammer in hand, she ran up to the side of the mercs. Floating a large boulder that had fallen from the ceiling, Uraraka struck it with her hammer, sending it flying like a giant baseball. It collided with the Vityaz mercs, ramming into each man. With them dealt with Midoriya hopped out of cover and ran alongside Uraraka.
Yet more mercenaries continued to appear. Some would stop and attack, others would turn and run. In one tunnel, a Toyota Hilux with an M2 mounted on the back drove by. Even with the roof collapsing around it, the driver had the truck come to a stop to block the teen's path. It was utterly insane, the truck's gunner then opening fire. With such little time, Midoriya chucked another grenade forward.
The explosive landed in the truck bed and shredded the machine gunner in seconds. Finally, the two teens reached familiar ground, entering the wide-open cavern they had first come into. Much of it had collapsed, but Midoriya could see the exit out of here. Only for Uraraka to tackle him out of the way. With their QJY-88, a Gold Coast machine gunner lit up the area where he just stood.
"Above us!" Uraraka quickly told him, and Midoriya's eyes shot upward. More mercenaries littered the rafters and walkways above them.
"[Children!? Here!?]" a Vityaz rifleman exclaimed, shocked, rapidly aiming his R4.
"[I thought Luiperd was joking!]" the man's Gold Coast counterpart replied.
"[Hell no we weren't! Shoot them already!]" the Luiperd machine gunner yelled, while Midoriya continued to duck behind rocks. Eventually, he and Uraraka began firing back upwards, while slowly moving forward, little by little.
"[Gonna tear you into little bits, brats!]" a Vityaz rifleman taunted, before Midoriya shot him square in the head. Seeing this two other Luiperd riflemen would begin focusing fire on him.
"[Forget the goffel! Kill the boy-]" one of them began to say, before the ground again shook. Looking up, Midoriya spotted the ceiling start to crack. Then more rock fell from the sky. Tons of it crushed the walkways the mercs stood on. Entire sections of the cave fell apart as the concrete command center disappeared behind the teens. With the path somewhat clear, Midoriya motioned Uraraka forward.
"We're almost out! Keep moving!" Midoriya yelled as she ran ahead of him. Following close behind, Midoriya again felt the ground shake. More bombs rattled the earth, and more of the ceiling collapsed. When the rock then struck the ground, Midoriya found the shaking didn't stop this time. The floor cracked in front of him. Like a spider's web, the ground beneath his feet began to shatter.
Soon, entire chunks of the floor fell away onto the caverns below.
"W-woah! Crap!"
The cave fell out from under him, and Midoriya plummeted. His grappling hook shot up to the roof, embedding itself into the still crumbling ceiling. The sudden end to his fall jerked him around, nearly dislocating his arm from its socket.
"Midoriya!" Uraraka called out in terror as the girl spotted him hanging over the pit. Floating over the pit, she was about to come toward him, but was again forced into cover. Desperately, Midoriya tried to get his grappling hook to pull him upwards. Yet the fall had jammed the motor. With both hands, he reached up and began pulling himself forward.
"Come on, climb, climb!" Midoriya told himself, just as he heard Luiperd machine gunners yell out again.
"[Down there! He's down there!]" a machine gunner yelled and quickly aimed his SS-77. Looking up, Midoriya found another squad of mercs gazing down toward him. With guns raised, they opened fire. With such little time, he drew his M1911 and began firing back. It did little to help, though, so he switched tactics. Midoriya began to swing back and forth, trying to get higher up while avoiding their fire.
The erratic motion threw off the mercs' aim ever so slightly.
"[Shoot him already!]" one Luiperd rifleman yelled, reloading his R1, as the machine gunners groaned next to him.
"[He's a sitting duck!]" a Luiperd shotgunner lambasted, busy emptying his SP312. Seconds later, he was met with a 9mm to the neck. The mercs dove for cover, Uraraka now trying to provide Midoriya with covering fire.
"[F-fuck! On our left!]" a Luiperd rifleman yelled. As he did this, Midoriya had finally gained some height with his swings. He heard another muffled boom above him and knew there was little time. Dust fell down from the ceiling, and Midoriya swung upwards. Cutting his grappling hook cable, Midoriya launched himself toward the cave's new ledge. Below him stood an unsuspecting Vityaz rifleman. Now falling back to the ground, Midoriya slugged the man. His fist knocked the man square in the face, and Midoriya landed into a roll.
Midoriya drew his rifle again, this time flanking the mercs attacking Uraraka on their right. The majority ducked back behind rocks, giving Midoriya ample time to chuck a grenade forward. The pained yells were the only sounds Midoriya heard after the grenade exploded. Just then, the ceiling started collapsing again.
"Uraraka! Come on!" Midoriya called out as he spotted the girl running toward him. Once she was close enough, he turned and booked it toward the entrance. All the while, the entire cave began to crumble. The floor began falling away behind them, as the ceiling swiftly buried all that remained. The exit was right in front of them, but Midoriya could hear the falling rocks gaining on them.
"Getting kinda cramped in here!" Uraraka exclaimed in panic, while Midoriya looked around worried. An idea soon came to him as he desperately ran.
"Uh… float!" Midoriya told Uraraka, "Make us float!"
She looked back, confused, but didn't hesitate to follow his lead. Grabbing his hand, Uraraka had them both soon floating into the air.
"Now what!?" Uraraka asked, the collapsing ceiling getting closer by the second. Within seconds, Midoriya pointed toward the entrance's wall.
"Slingshot!" was all he said, as Uraraka's eyes widened in realization. Shooting her own grappling hook forward, both teens watched as it connected with the cave's wall. Then, the motor began to pull them. Faster than Midoriya thought it could. The teens shot forward, flying toward the cave's entrance. Releasing her grappling hook from the wall, they both shot out of the cave, flying upwards into the sky. Yet neither actually realized this.
Midoriya and Uraraka had grabbed each other in a hug as they flew forward, not wanting to risk letting the other go. So as they clung to each other, it took them a second to realize they'd escaped. The moment they did, Midoriya heard Uraraka take a deep breath.
"W-we… we made it!" Uraraka exclaimed, equally happy and terrified after everything that had just gone down. Looking back down, Midoriya saw the cave's entrance fully collapse, as B-52s overhead continued to drop more bombs. Seconds later, he saw a missile slam into some trees, blowing up a hidden SAM that the PMCs didn't have time to switch on. The F-15 that fired the missile then darted by above them.
"That… that was close," Midoriya commented, slowly hugging Uraraka tighter.
"Yeah…" Uraraka agreed, and the two slowly drifted back down to the ground. Finding their jeep, Uraraka brought them floating right above it, before deactivating her quirk. Dropping into their seats, Midoriya let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Again, Uraraka laughed, this time more worriedly than before. Midoriya could tell she was trying to avoid thinking about the blood spilled.
"Well… I'd say that's us two… bad guys zero," Uraraka nervously pointed out, the girl's foot slowly beginning to tap. She didn't like making light of the situation. But thinking of it like one of UA's training exercises helped her cope. Mere moments later, another set of bombs landed on the hill. Wind and dust shot past both teens, and they turned back toward the PMCs' cave base. The MSF was definitely bringing the hammer down on them. Every few seconds, Midoriya would see another missile slam into the hillside or watch a B-52 open its bay doors and drop everything.
"Should we… do something?" Uraraka cautiously asked, with Midoriya being unsure. The MSF appeared to have this covered. After all, the entire cave complex was being flattened before them. He doubted there was anything else for them to do. Only to be quickly reminded of one small action the two needed to take. For the second time, Midoriya saw a bomb drop onto the cave and felt the rush of wind and dust.
"We may still be in the blast radius, so uh… go, go, go," Midoriya said rapidly, starting up the M151. Within seconds, the two were off again, driving down the dirt road.
All Adonis could hear around him were pained yells. Be it from one of his men, one of Vityaz, or the Gold Coast's, they all yelled in pain.
"My leg! I can't feel my leg!" a Gold Coast merc yelled, as two others dragged him away from a collapsed tunnel.
"Medic, medic!" a Vityaz merc called out desperately, trying to stop his intestines from spilling out of him.
"We've got boets still trapped down there! Get the shovels!" a Luiperd merc ordered, Adonis soon hearing men rush back down to the caves. All while he felt the heat of the Nigerian sun shine down on him. The MSF's aircraft had seemingly disappeared for the moment. They'd run out of munitions after blowing up the majority of the cave. But Adonis knew they'd be back. And everyone present was screwed.
Now huddled around a lone table, he, Guo, and Galkin surrounded a map. All three of them were furious, but each knew there was nothing they could do about it.
"This entire operation is a bust," Guo grumbled angrily, running a hand over his bald head, "I say we cut our losses and leave now."
Galkin nodded in agreement, while Adonis glared at both of them. How naive.
"Leave? We are trapped, miles from the border! And now the MSF knows we're here!" Adonis exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. With the MSF knowing they were in Outer Heaven, they'd waste no time doing everything possible to get them out. Which meant those bombers would be back as soon as possible. He still didn't have concrete numbers, but at best, Adonis had one singular Umkhonto medium-range SAM system at his disposal. That was eight missiles.
Eight missiles to fight an air force in the hundreds. He didn't even know what equipment the others had on hand, assuming any of it survived.
"We're dead anyway," Adonis stated tiredly. Hearing this proclamation, Galkin grumbled loudly next to him.
"All that money… just up in smoke," Galkin muttered, annoyed, the man slowly crossing his arms.
"How did they even know we were here?" Guo tiredly questioned, with Adonis quietly agreeing. They never turned on radar, so there was nothing for the MSF to detect. They had forward scouts monitoring positions from miles away. If they heard or spotted ground troops or aircraft of any sort, they'd alert the base. Why had they noticed now? What gave them away? Satellite imaging could have spotted them, but they took extreme care in hiding all their tracks. They made sure everything looked as natural and inconspicuous as possible.
There was the possibility of the captured Luiperds ratting them out. But Adonis doubted that. They were Luan's loyal private army. They did what the regulars weren't trusted to do. Of course, as he pondered this, Galkin raised a brow and looked at both of them.
"Did you not hear?" Galkin asked, confused, "Two of my men said they spotted… teenagers running through the caves. Both of them with MSF insignias."
"...Teens?" Guo muttered in disbelief, only for Galkin to nod. He didn't fully believe it either. A pair of brats had snuck into their cave, killed loads of their men, and brought the MSF's bombers onto their heads. It seemed illogical. And yet that's what Galkin's men had reported. They even had photos to prove it. Adonis, hearing what Galkin said, turned toward the Russian slowly.
"Teens… Teens…" Adonis muttered, disbelief and rage slowly building. Two… teens… Carefully, Galkin held out one of the photos his men had caught. In the photo was a teenage boy with green hair and a brown haired teenage girl.
"You… you again!?" Adonis yelled out, yanking the photo from Galkin's grasp. He stabbed the picture into the table, angrily glaring holes into the picture. Both Guo and Galkin looked at him, shocked and confused. They looked at him like he was crazy. But Adonis didn't exactly care about what they thought. Because these were the same two teens who beat the shit out of his little band of "poachers" a week earlier.
It was the only piece of info he'd even gotten from Scar and his boys. Scar left only a single message, informing Adonis he was being pursued by a pair of brats. And then he was captured. These two brats had cost him two hundred and fourteen men. They then raided their base, killed dozens more men, and screwed over the single largest contract Adonis had ever seen.
"They… they are going to pay for this," Adonis stated coldly, his anger becoming more reserved.
"That's what you're focused on!? Revenge on two teenagers!?" Guo asked, exasperated.
"Do you have a better proposition!?" Adonis yelled back, holding his arms and gesturing to the surrounding area, "With the MSF knowing where we are, this entire mission is dead in the water! We are all dead men walking!"
Angrily, Adonis looked back at the photo he'd stabbed into the table. Pulling his knife out, he looked down on the two teens. He didn't think it was possible to so utterly hate someone so much in so little time. And yet here he was.
"If we're dead already, then those brats will die with us!" Adonis furiously shouted before putting his knife back into its sheath.
"Now, how many men do you two have left?" Adonis asked them, his gaze switching between Galkin and Guo. Both men pondered the prospects of his plan. The two held a quiet conversation before Galkin looked back at Adonis and opened his mouth.
"...Enough to deal with these pests."