POV Mason
BOOOOOM
"Now!" I shouted, and we opened fire on anything that so much as twitched.
The enemy was disoriented and confused, allowing us to kill most of them before they could return fire. We didn't have to worry about ammo, as any weapon we used had unlimited ammo as long as we were the ones to use it. By the time they had returned fire, it was too late, and after less than a minute of firing, the last enemy fell. We go to grab Preston and find that he was already waking up. Which meant all we had to do was open the door. The door was a bit stuck, but when we opened it, we found a massive elevator shaft behind it.
"Jesus, we must be almost 100 stories underground," Rorke comments.
"The elevator isn't here, which means we'll have to climb our way up," Elias says while looking for some rope.
We join in and manage to scavenge some material we could use to add some extra protection in case we make a mistake.
"What if the elevator comes while we're climbing?" I ask.
"We'll stay to the left of the shaft. There's enough room there to squeeze by," Elias says while gesturing to the left, where I can see a small gap between the metal shaft and the concrete that surrounds it.
We each tie a part of the rope to each other and then start the dangerous trip up the shaft. It was difficult work, but with patience, we were making good progress. The only issue was that we still couldn't see the top. We also had to work with Flashlights to see, as there weren't any lights in the shaft.
It took several hours, but eventually we reached the top of the shaft. During that time, the elevator didn't descend once, which led to a difficult problem.
"How do we get the elevator out of the way?" I ask.
"We can try explosives. I think we might have a grenade or two left. And if that fails, we can use the gunpowder in the bullets we found," Preston suggests.
"Hmm, that's likely our best chance other than hoping they send the elevator down," Rorke comments.
We start passing the materials needed to Preston as he insists he does the job. We didn't love the idea, but it made the best sense. If Preston fell, we could use the rope that connects him to catch him, so even if he was knocked out, he wouldn't be lost. It took a few minutes, but eventually everything was handed to Preston, and he began climbing up to the top of the elevator shaft. Then he did something and started climbing down as fast as he could.
BOOOM CREEEEEEEEAAAAAKKKK
With a loud creak, the elevator started to loosen before a snap of something was heard, and the elevator dropped. The elevator slid rapidly past us, and we had just enough space to avoid getting hit. After it was gone, the door to the rest of the base was revealed. Preston was a bit roughed up but otherwise fine.
Next came opening the door. Which was easier said than done. For one, it was sealed shut, but beyond that, the enemy would be on the otherside waiting to shoot as soon as we showed ourselves. And we were not in a good position to defend ourselves.
"I'll open the doors. Again, if they take me out, you can catch me," Preston suggested.
"Fine, but don't open it all the way. We need to control how much they can get into our side just as much as we need to control the opposite," Elias said.
Preston slowly opens the door, but that all changes quickly as a sound is heard, and moments later, the door is blasted apart by a rocket, and Preston is sent flying. We have to adapt quickly to both avoid falling ourselves and catch Preston. But just as that happened, the rope Preston was attached to snapped. And Preston fell, but thankfully, by sheer luck, he didn't fall far and instead fell back-first onto a metal frame that makes up the elevator shaft. We even heard a nasty-sounding crack, but he would be fine. Probably.
Ratatatatatatatata
Once the door was gone, gunfire quickly followed, but since none of us were dumb enough to be stationed in the fire zone, none of us were harmed. We used that time to adapt and get ready to kill anyone who showed themselves in the doorway. We also all decided to move away from the doorway to avoid getting hit by any more rockets. I went down Rorke, and Elias went up. In either case, the enemy wouldn't have much of an advantage, as we were hugging the wall the door was on, so if they wanted to kill us, they would have to poke their heads out.
The fighting went on for several hours as neither side was willing to move towards the other after the first few losses on the enemy's side. Preston had woken up several times through this ordeal and was the main attacker on our side every so often. The enemy had only shot 2 more rockets, but we had a massive advantage. We didn't require sleep, food, water, or ammo. As such, we could stay here forever, and eventually, rescue would come for us. Or at least we hoped.
But the stalemate changed after the enemy had seemingly retreated, only leaving some turrets. We were suspicious, but we still used this chance to gain a foothold.
"They must have realised the stalemate wasn't in their favour. Or they wanted to use other weapons that can't be used in such close quarters," Elias comments.
"Then let's be extra cautious," Preston says, and we all look at him with raised eyebrows.
Preston seems to ignore that, and we just keep moving. We only run into turrets. No traps, no soldiers, no robots, just turrets. And even the turrets weren't in massive quantities. We eventually find two separate exits. One that was heavily guarded and the other that was suspiciously lightly guarded. Which was a serious problem, as while it was clear the second exit was a trap, the first was so well defended that even our previous strategy wouldn't work, even if we had the explosives, which we don't.
"We can't break through the main exit. Those suits are X-01 and X-02 models. 5.56 would hardly affect them. And we don't have any explosives to weaken their numbers. It's suicide to try," Rorke says confidently.
"We can't walk into a trap; it would be no better," Elias replies.
"What if we set off the fire alarm?" I ask.
Everyone looks at me with confusion, clear on their faces.
"This floor has a sprinkler system, and from what it looks like, the fire alarm would shut down the main lights and switch to emergency lights. It's a safety feature that is common in Pre-War bunkers," I explain.
Elias looks up at the ceiling and sees the sprinkler.
"What would that accomplish?" Rorke asks.
"It will reduce visibility. You want us to sneak out," Elias responds for me.
I nod.
"It could work. It won't be perfect, but it should increase our odds. But that would mean we would have to scout out the trap," Elias comments.
"Yeah, but it should allow us to get an idea about which side is truly worse to attempt to breach. And if both are equally bad, then we can try to find an alternative route," I explain.
"Huh, looks like your old job did come in handy. Nice job, Mason," Rorke compliments.
It takes some work, but eventually we send the bunker into Fire Suppression Mode, giving us the needed leeway to investigate the trapped exit. We were surprised to find that the so-called trapped exit wasn't an exit at all but another elevator. One that led to the roof.
"If we try heading up that way, we'll be trapped," Rorke says.
"Not necessarily. If we can steal a Vertbird, we can fly it to freedom. Or at least use the communication equipment on board to send out a distress call," Elias counters.
"But we have no way of knowing if there are even any Vertibirds there, let alone that they have any in the first place," Rorke retorts.
"If that is the case, then the roof access can still give us a way to avoid the main exits' defences. We can rappel from the roof or at least trap ourselves on the roof and wait things out up there. Eventually, we would be found in such a scenario," Preston offers.
Rorke looks like he doesn't love the idea, but he doesn't argue further, and we move towards the elevators. We didn't kill the guards, just snuck past them so as to not alert the enemy. The elevators were keycard only, but with some work on my part, I was able to bypass that and send us to the roof. When we arrived, we found a few more guards and 2 Vertibirds. As well as several AA Guns.
"Okay, so they have them, but where do we go from here?" Rorke asks.
"We split up," Preston says after looking around.
"What?" Rorke says with a shocked tone.
"We split into two groups. Each takes a vertibird and flies in a different direction. If they pursue us, they will have to split their forces. Increasing our odds of getting the message back to Rio," Preston explains.
Rorke goes to argue, but Elias stops him.
"It's the best possible plan. But first lets clear this platform," Elias says while staring at Rorke, who responds in kind.
Rorke is the first to break the stare, and we all start to slowly kill everyone on the roof. Once that is done, we move to destroy the AA guns when I hear the second elevator turn on, and I realise we will have company soon. We run to our respective Vertibirds and turn them on, and use the Miniguns to destroy the AA guns and then aim towards the elevator. As soon as the door opens, we open fire. The elevator is destroyed, and the box drops down the shaft. We breathe a sigh of relief but freeze again when we hear loud thuds coming from the shaft. If it were just a couple, it would be fine, but it was a very stable and slowly getting louder thudding.
"The long range comms aren't working, we need to get in the air NOW!" Rorke yells over the comms.
Suddenly, the thudding stops and a massive metal hand grabs the edge of the door, and what pulls itself out of the darkness is what I could only describe as a giant.
"You've gotten a lot farther than you should have, but your ride ends here, scum, time to die," the giant says calmly.
We open fire on him, but the bullets bounce off him and do nothing more than annoy him. It's at this point that Preston kicks me off his Vertibird and takes off. I was confused about what he was doing, but then he started to swing around.
"Elias, get out of here, that's an order. Head North," Preston orders.
"Sigh. Solid Copy, Hit 'em hard, boss," Elias replies before shouting at me to get on.
I jump on right as Elias lifts off. Rorke yells he wants to swing back around and pick up Preston, but Elias refuses and keeps flying.
BOOOOOM
Rorke and I look back as Preston crashes into the giant, but after some of the smoke clears, we see that the giant wasn't that harmed by the attack, and it walks to the edge of the platform with Preston in its arms and holds him up, and while I couldn't see the giant's face, I swore it was smiling at us. It then raised its fist at us, and my eyes went wide.
"BANK RIGHT!" I scream, but it was too late.
A beam of red light shoots from the gauntlet of the giant and hits the left wing. Thankfully, it didn't take us out, but it did slow us down a bit, and the engine was now on fire. We head to the cockpit, and Elias speaks to us.
"Well, I got good news and bad news. This bird's left engine is down, which means the only way off this bird is gravity," Elias says while fighting the control stick to keep us up.
"And the good news?" I ask.
"That was the good news," Elias responds.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Yeah, yeah, yeah... The bad news is the skies are filled with enemies, and I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this bird in the air," Elias says with grim determination.
"Then we go down fighting," Rorke says firmly.
"No, I gotta get you two off this bird," Elias says.
"But, Sir," I reply.
"Don't want to hear it. Get the info to Rio," Elias orders.
"I... Done," I reply with determination.
"Not yet, it's not. Rorke, watch out for Mason down there; both of you need to survive long enough to come rescue us," Elias yells with a sarcastic grin.
"It's been an honour, Elias," Rorke says after some thought and a pained expression.
"Likewise... I'll do what I can to draw their fire... And Mason, Rorke... thanks," Elias says.
We leave the cockpit and head towards the door.
"On my mark, jump," Elias says while getting us closer to the ground.
We get right next to a large hill, and he counts down from three before we jump and roll with the slope to mitigate the damage. After landing, we covered ourselves in foliage and waited. Mere moments later, 8 Vertibirds flew from over the horizon and towards Elias. Once they were gone, we started moving slowly towards the North based on the sun's position.