The click of Lucas’ weapon was the last signal he needed to duck out of sight before his position was torn to pieces. If Lilly’s combat systems were to be believed, he’d managed to score 4 confirmed kills with the thirty round magazine he slid out of his weapon. In the same motion of sliding a new magazine from his vest and slapping it into his M37, Lucas threw himself prone with his head towards the onslaught he knew was coming.
A hail of gunfire that ripped through the wooden walls in front of him. If Lucas hadn’t had the forethought of laying prone, the stream of lead and wood shavings would have torn Lilly’ chest to pieces. Practice rounds or not, there was a serious chance of her body receiving actual damage from the concentration of bullets the current wave of enemies sent blindly into the barren house he had taken shelter in.
“Ares, I’m going to fall back to the next layer of buildings.” Lucas shouted to his only squadmate. “Don’t get pinned anywhere for too long.”
“You don’t need to tell me that.” Ashten snapped back.
The gunfire let up long enough to allow Lucas to hear the sounds of metallic footsteps approaching.
I count four more moving to breach. Lilly informed him as he rose to a low crouch.
Understood. Lucas began to back out of the central room towards a rear exit of the plywood structure. I need to take my own advice and not get stuck here.
He kept his rifle aimed at the door opposite of the one he wanted to retreat through. Three bodies of Wu Jin soldiers clogged the floor of that entrance, put there only a minute prior when they had attempted to clear the building the first time. A pair of rifles snaked around either edge and fired blindly in Lucas’ direction.
They’re trying to keep me in place, Lucas realized, They’re not going to peak because they know I’m still watching. Which means…
Lucas fired a short burst through the opposite doorway just to ensure the pair would stay put before he turned completely around. Stepping out into the side alley between houses, Lucas aimed his rifle to his left just as a hostile rounded the corner. Six bullets entered its chest before it could fully lift its weapon. Lucas swept his gun down and back up one hundred and eighty degrees behind him. Using the motion to lower himself into a crouched shooting position, the first three rounds the robot on that side fired went right over Lucas’ head. He felt the fourth round ricochet off of his shoulder before he could empty the rest of his magazine into the foe.
The two at the front…
Lilly’ warning came a fraction of a second late as a spray of fire washed around Lucas. Lucas winced as he felt a slight jab of pain in his right leg before he rolled to the right out of view. The wooden walls didn’t provide much protection, but they at least obscured his exact position from view.
Normally I would just simulate this but, Lilly grimaced, Looks like I don't need to this time. Motor functions in my right leg have been drastically impaired. Our effective combat speed will be halved. Likely for the rest of this scenario.
I noticed. Lucas huffed as he limped the short distance to the next building.
When combat had initially begun, Lucas and Ashten agreed upon the only strategy that made sense in the moment. Given that the enemies were coming from their north, Lucas took a firing position in the eastern homes while Ashten took the west. Using what little cover they had, Lucas and Ashten’s only goal was to eliminate as many hostiles as possible, retreating from house to house as they were forced to move back. Despite their overwhelming numbers, the hostile AI’s seemed hesitant to move past any house that hadn’t been cleared. Lucas suspected this was to imitate real life situations where friendly forces were holding the flanks, but there was no real way for him to be sure. Whatever the reason, the hostile forces’ hesitancy to simply surround the pair was the only reason they were still alive and fighting. If Ashten and Amber had taken out the same number of enemies that he and Lilly had so far, then the Wu Jin were paying dearly for every inch of ground they were taking.
Before he entered his next line of defense, Lucas risked a hasty glance across the wide street to the second house on Ashten’s side. So far, the competitive girl had refused to fall back until Lucas had called out his own retreat. Since he was heading into his third building, Ashten would more than likely still be in her second home.
A flicker of movement caught Lucas’ eye and caused his stomach to drop. A large group of bots exited Ashten’s first structure and flanked either side of the second. His observation didn’t go unnoticed and Lucas was forced to duck into his own building before he could get a full count. Lucas' mind kicked itself into overdrive.
“Ares you have at least four coming through the North door.” He shouted over comms.
“Yeah.”
Lucas could hear short controlled bursts from Ashten’s weapon as she responded.
“Three down.”
“Listen to me very carefully.” Lucas instructed Ashten as he shambled right through his third structure.
Lucas didn’t bother taking up a defensive position as he had in the last two buildings. Ashten would need his help to get through the next few minutes and that meant he needed space to think. His mind was still tracking the bots’ movements around Ashten’s structure.
“Stand in the center of your central room facing north.” Lucas instructed as he limped out the far door and entered the alley between his third and fourth building. “On my count you will engage enemies in this order. Your twelve o’clock is directly North. Punch ten rounds at chest level through the wall at eleven o’clock. Then again at nine o’clock. Take a single step towards twelve before putting your final ten rounds through six o’clock two feet lower than your previous twenty rounds. Do you understand?”
Lucas sidled up to the east corner of his third building.
“How do…”
Lucas cut off Ashten’s angry response. “Five seconds Ares.”
Time was of the essence.
“I got it.” She grumbled back.
“You’ll have one more at six o’clock so make sure to cycle your weapon before they have a chance to respond.” Lucas leaned out of his cover slightly to verify the enemy’s movements.
Exactly how Lucas had expected, a squad of four evenly spaced robots moved swiftly along the outer east wall of Ashten’s building. As long as she followed through with his instructions, she should take out the squad of four that Lucas couldn’t see. The Wu Jin moved as one cohesive unit. Their ability to coordinate and work together was nothing short of perfection. Fortunately for Lucas, this was beginning to make them predictable.
“Now.” Lucas calmly radioed to Ashten.
A spray of gunfire erupted from inside of her building causing the four hostiles in Lucas’ sights to pause briefly and aim at the sound. Their momentary distraction was all Lucas needed to drop all four of them without a single bullet fired back at him. One final round of gunfire sounded out before the town fell silent.
“Clear.” Asthen breathed out heavily.
“Not for long. Another wave is coming up fast.” Lucas announced as he eyed the hostile force down the street.
There’s way too many of them. Lucas thought hopelessly.
That’s kind of the point of the scenario Lucas. Lilly laughed gently. We’re only tasked with slowing them. I’d say we’ve done a pretty good job of it.
So far. Lucas patted his vest gently as he felt for magazines.
“I’m down to three mags Ares.” He announced after a moment.
“I have two.” She responded glumly. “Can’t we get more off of the guys we’ve taken out?”
Lucas shook his head even though Ashten couldn’t see him.
“No. Their weapons are chambered in seven six two.” Lucas explained. “It wont work for our rifles. We’ll have to pick up one of their weapons and use that when we run out of our own. Be prepared though, their weapons don’t hit nearly as hard so you’ll have to compensate for that.”
“I’m not stupid silence.” Asthen huffed.
Why aren’t they using a higher caliber like we are? Lucas asked Lilly silently.
We assume it’s because this is what the Chinese government originally gave them. Sure they have to shoot us more than we do them, but when they outnumber us a few hundred to one why should they care? Lilly did the mental equivalent of a shrug.
Lucas had more questions but the next wave of enemies had reached the second layer of homes. He could have reengaged them from where he stood, but Lucas was sensing new behavior from his enemy that caused him to stay in place and hold his fire. Up until this point, the Wu Jin had moved cautiously from house to house. Checking every corner, clearing every room. This new wave of hostiles moved differently. The forty or so robotic soldiers wasted no such time as they ran down the street. They were in the open. Lucas could unload one of his remaining magazines and drop at least five of them before they could make it to cover, but that ever present portion of his brain demanded he refrain from doing so and continue to simply observe. Combat is all about information. It’s about knowing your enemy inside and out so you can anticipate their actions and counter them with your own. Lucas knew full well that this action might cost them the scenario, but if it won them a future engagement he was willing to take the risk.
The large detachment of forty automated soldiers paused next to Ashten’s current hiding place and turned in unison.
I think the enemy is done with our cover based tactics. Lilly noted.
“Ashten get down!”
Lucas’ shout was drowned out by an explosion of simultaneous fire that engulfed Asthen’s building completely.
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elittesgamer· Apr 22, 2022
