Across the ruined cityscape where the only sounds that are able to be heard were the heavy rain and the strong winds flowing through the buildings, there can be seen a lone person draped in some old school military garb running through the streets in a steady and paced manner.
This person then stops in front of a subway entrance, taking out his weapon which is a rifle with a combat knife attached to the end of the barrel as a bayonet, he checks his surroundings before making a few gestures and a holographic window appearing right in front of his eyes.
[Seek and destroy: eliminate all the hostiles]
[Timer: 03:52:42:13]
The person in question is non other than Alabaster. It has been a few hours since he cleared his first building, after wich he descended into the city and proceeded to clear all the buildings that he thought could be housing militia warriors one by one. Although he had to spend a considerable amount of time in order to travel from one point to the next clearing the buildings themselves were very quick due to him not having to climb multiple floors and their number per building not exceeding 5.
Although quick, his job was far from easy since the city was filled with traps by this point and the enemies had more or less explored the terrain giving them many more avenues from wich to ambush him, many of the buildings he had chosen turned out to be empty and many that he didn't even suspect turned out to be crawling with enemies and that made him have many close calls.
But it was nothing that the indiscriminate use of flashbangs and granades didn't solve, he is now very grateful for being given these as loot. Speaking of which he found quite a few while exploring the city, like the rifle that is in his hands for example: it is a semi-automatic magnetic rifle that he attached his combat knife to that he got after clearing a a fuel post, aside from it he also found while exploring a lot of ammo for both his rifle and pistol, a detonator and some C-4 and some other useless item like medkits and armor pieces which would not make any difference since he would be eliminated in one shot regardless.
And now, he is in the last place that he is yet to clear and the place he left for last in hope that once he cleared the buildings he would recieve a message that he cleared the stage meaning that he wouldn't have to go there: the subway.
There is no need to elaborate in length of why he is so reluctant to go there: dark + tight spaces + traps + no knowledge of the layout = a very hard time. And considering that the only source of light that he has on hand is the lighter he was given at the start of the stage his life just wasn't getting any easier, he has been mentally preparing himself for a while and now is finally time to descend into whatever was waiting for him down there. The only upside being that he would be able to escape the storm while down there.
On the way, he makes sure to set up a trap at the entrance in case any enemies slip past him and try to escape towards the surface. Then with the ignited lighter on his hand and his rifle being carried on the other hand, he advanced onwards into the darkness.
As he made his way, he was completely aware that the enemies would have an advantage due to a lone source of light(himself) among pitch black darkness would be easier to spot and the enemies would be able to traverse the subways easily due to having a much better awareness of the layout of this place.
The place was filled with dust and cobwebs along with many sections that collapsed with the deterioration of the place, the atmosphere of the place was silent and unsettling, coupled with the darkness this place would make anyone have the urge to turn away but he continued regardless.
He first investigated the main paths along with the many shops and stalls that were abandoned before proceeding to search side paths and restricted areas for any clues, finally making his way towards the embark/disembark area and searching there as well.
By this point he would be very impressed with their capability to hide their traces if he wasn't in a hurry to end this stage. Finding absolutely no clues, he decides to follow the train tracks in hope that the enemies made their hideout deeper into the tunnels.
As he hops inside the tracks he carefully makes his way onwards still alert for any unseen traps before making a very important discovery.
In the exterior of an abandoned train, he was able to identify a peculiar marking painted there. This is not the first time he saw this marking as he encountered various similar symbols while clearing out other militia hideouts on the abandoned city.
From what he could tell, this symbols were used by the militia warriors in order to mark important places such as: supply caches, prime ambush spots, their own traps so they don't fall for them accidentally and many others. This knowledge has been helpful many times in the scenario already and it's not an exaggeration to say that would've taken at least another hour to clear the surface if they weren't at his disposal.
The symbol in question, Alabaster could identify due to him seeing before many times and all of those times it symbolized a escape route or a safe hiding spot that his enemies would retreat to in case things weren't going their way.
This not only confirmed their presence in the tunnels but also gave him a start of a plan that was forming in his head but he would need more information before he would put it to practice.
Now knowing what to look for he went back to the other tunnel entrances and sure enough, they were all market symbolizing if the path ahead had any strategic importance or if the tunnel was collapsed and would lead to a dead end.
With this new information in hand, he went back and used all his C-4 and leftover explosives to block the emergency exit and important places such as their weapon storage after quickly and silently getting rid of the ones guarding those places.
Now, all he needed to do was cause a big ruckus so that the enemies would try to escape or access their storage and the rest would take care of itself.
With all his preparations ready, he proceeded to the only path he hasn't explored yet which is what he could tell from the symbol their main hub and the place with the most enemies in the place.
He proceeded cautiously trough the darkness until he heard very feint sounds in the distance, making him immediately turn off his lighter and continue ahead in the pitch black darkness.
Very quickly he stumbled into his first big group of enemies since he entered the subway. They seemed to have barricaded the tunnel using train cars and debris, and the place was very scarcely illuminated with some torches around the place, he could see three enemies on top of the train cars and a few more he could hear beyond the barricade. He then slowly made his way closer while trying to find any blind spot in their defence but his planning was cut short by a familiar sound.
*clank*
After Alabaster, who was walking in complete darkness and had no way to spot the pressure plate that he has just steped on, heard the sound that thankfully didn't belong to a landmine otherwise his simulation run would've been cut short, he knew that things were about to get complicated.
And to be fair, things were going too smoothly thus far, sooner or later a hiccup was bound to happen in the run. Thankfully it didn't happen before his preparations were in place so things were still salvageable.
But he didn't have time to continue this train of thought as in no time alarm sirens were blaring and the previously dark environment was bombarded with several headlights that illuminated the tunnel and left him exposed to his enemies that were now scrambling to take defensive positions.
Thankfully there was plenty of cover around, be the ruined train cars or debris that were scattered about he would at least not be completely exposed on his aproach, so after checking his weapon that he was now holding with both hands he readies himself for battle.
As he leaves cover and starts to shoot his semi-automatic gun, the enemies that were positioned above the barricade start to be eliminated one by one, his accuracy and reflexes being unmatched among his enemies. One after the other have their heads blown by him as their comrades struggle to hit him as he weaves in and out of cover too fast for them to return fire and their inferior weapons also leave much to be desired.
With their number above the barricade being reduced to less than half, the militiamen decide to pull back and reorganize themselves further in.
Alabaster seeing their retreat immediately advances on his retreating enemies to try to do as much damage as possible before their number is bolstered by reinforcements that must be on their way.
Managing to kill two more enemies that were too slow to retreat, he finally finds himself at the bottom of the barricade, taking this brief pause to reload his weapon before he starts climbing the improvised barricade in order to advance.
Reaching the top, he now have clear vision of the militia's forward outpost which consists of various tents and shacks that were arranged on the tunnel, he can also clearly see that a few warriors still remained, probably left to cover the others retreat. Warriors which were quickly dispatched by him without them being able to put much of a fight.
With the rear guard dealt with, he then went into pursue of the retreating enemies in the hope that he is able to catch up with them before their reinforcements.
But an enemy suddenly jumped out of one of the nearby tents with a machete In hand and immediately charged towards Alabaster with no fear or hesitation apparent, but this ambush was not very thought out as Alabaster even without enough space to shoot simply used the bayonet attached to his rifle to stab the attackers throat after which he pulled the trigger to guarantee the kill.
Not affected by the ambush, Alabaster continues to pursue his enemies while still maintaining his caution towards any traps that might be awaiting for further in.
This pursue continues until he is led towards a corridor that was at the side of the tunnel and is probably the path he must take to reach their real base.
But before entering it, he removes his knife from his rifle and switches it for his lazer pistol, the reason being that the narrow corridor would not give him a lot of space to fight and a long gun could hinder him so the smaller pistol is much more suitable for the situation.
For the next minutes, he would navigate through the maze-like corridors while following faint tracks and the periodical sounds in order to be able to find their base without getting lost. But the smooth travel quickly came to an end when he was faced with a few more enemies that were once again sent to delay him.
A firefight quickly ensued with both parties taking turns popping out of cover and shooting towards the opponent, but due to the lack of cover outside of the corners of the pathways making impossible for either of the parties to advance and the poor lighting that severely affected everyone's aim, they quickly found themselves in a stalemate, which was just fine for the militiamen that were trying to buy time, Alabaster on the other hand was growing increasingly annoyed as all of this was wasting precious time for him.
But as the firefight continued Alabaster started to hear faint footsteps, they were almost unnoticeable amidst the gunfire but he was capable of detecting thanks to all his training and acute senses, and those footsteps were rapidly approaching but he pretended to not hear them and continued with the firefight in order to lure in whoever was trying to sneak up on him.
When the footsteps sounds became very close to him, he immediately reacted and with a quick spin he brought his knife upon whoever was behind him, the knife plunged straight on the attackers head killing him instantly but it seemed to have left behind a present before departing as a grenade fell from the enemie's hand and rolled towards his feet. Acting immediately and almost on instinct he kicked away the granade towards the corridor his enemies were located and after he heard it bouncing a few times on the walls the granade reached the place his enemies were hiding before exploding and taking them out.
With his enemies dealt with, he continued onwards trough the tunnels...
