I groggily wake up, my head spinning as I look aorund in a daze.
I see a soldier, upside down, waving for at me and his mouth moves, but I don't hear what he says.
Suddenly, all the surrounding sounds of battle rush at me all at once. The sound of bullets ricocheting off metal and people shouting orders causes an intense headache as the soldier grabs my shoulders and what he was shouting comes into focus.
"We were ambushed! Omnics to the east! We're being overrun!"
Fighting through my massive headache, I unbuckle my seatbelt to drop to the ground.
Crawling out of the remains of the ship, I can see a trail of fire and dirt leading to where we are.
In the darkness of the fields away, the red glowing lights eyes of the Bastions cut through the smoke as they showing shuffle forward to reveal the rest of their frame.
A line of soldiers lay on the ground as they fire on the frontlines of the omnics.
"Shawn, help everyone out of the plane." I turn to see Reinhardt shielding to our right where we are more exposed.
I nod reenter the wreckage of our plane and begin to search for anybody who still remains.
Heading to the front of the upside-down plane, I notice our two pilots hanging with their arms swaying as bullets occasionally cutting through the parts of the window that isn't busted.
Reaching the first pilot and seeing no signs of movement from him, I check his pulse to find him dead.
Feeling nothing, I try the copilot to find they have also died.
Seeing that there was no one else on the plane, I take an extra minute to check the supplies to see if there is anything left to salvage.
Finding none, I exit the plane to report to Reinhardt.
Reinhardt drops his shield as we use the remains of the ship as cover to come up with a plan.
"Status report." Reinhardt orders.
"Our pilots are both dead, nothing left to salvage from the stratoscopter." I report.
"That makes five total causalities. We're currently in some place called the Berkshires, 150 miles from New York." The second in command reports.
S3bastian comes over, "Don't want to ruin your little group therapy session, but I can confirm that the enemy is currently sending detachments to flank either side of us. I don't have to tell you how bad that is for us if they succeed."
"We're being outmaneuvered? We need to retreat now while we have the chance." The second in command advises.
Reinhardt takes this into consideration for a second.
"If they attacked us here, then they're trying to keep us from entering New York. Our troops need us there, we can't abandon them. We take them by surprise and charge directly through them and continue on to New York."
Everyone deadpans. But S3bastian steps forward, "Actually, that might work. Right now, they sent a majority of their forces in a pincher attack. If we push through their front fast enough, we can break through and get past them."
"If I use my EMP grenades, that could buy us some time to get through them so we could push." I suggest.
Satisfied with the structure of a plan, Reinhardt smiles and proudly stands, bullets bouncing off his armor on his back.
"Everyone, on me! We fight as one!"
He turns, holding his shield up as he begins to run forward. I also bring out my own shield, holding it alongside his. He takes a glance at it before chuckling. "It's not the size of the boat..."
"Shut it." I exclaim cutting him off.
There is still some distance between us and their front lines as we charge across the middle to us.
In the distance, I spy three Ravagers, who look at our advance. S3bastian catches up and says, "I know all Omnics look alike to you, but those are the same Ravagers from the omnium."
One of the Ravagers moves, pointing towards us before returning to his imposing unmoving state.
"He no doubt just gave a command." I say.
"Yes, we are now all being collapsed on by the flanking units. If we don't break through with this advance, you guys will be no longer with us." He says.
Bullets start to fly at us from our sides, as Bastion units start to march towards both our left and right.
"Argh."
The scream makes me turn to see a one of our soldiers with rockets take a bullet and fall to the ground.
"S3bastian, protect our right, I'll take the left."
"OK, dad." He rushes off to our right as his arms form electric shields similar to my own.
I don't dwell too long on the fact that he followed my orders so simply this time as I rush to the fallen soldier.
The solider is desperately crawling away from the ruins of the plane as he tries to not get left behind.
Making it to him, I place my hand on his shoulder as I begin to heal him.
Looking up, I can see the fear in his eyes disappear and replaced with hope.
Helping him up with the bullets whizzing past us, I shout over the sounds of battle.
"We're sitting ducks! Let's get back to the group immediately!"
He nods then picks up his fallen weapon as we begin to sprint back to the group.
Seeing that the group was moving faster than us, I grab onto the soldier, and begin to carry him as I will the bioelectricity in my legs to increase my speed which lets us catch back up to the group within seconds.
Making it back to the group, I set the soldier down as I return to protecting our left while we continue our push towards the front lines of the enemy.
"Forward my friends! This victory is our hands!"
I dare a peek over towards the front to see us nearing the fronts of the bastions. Many transforming into turrents that send a flurry of bullets at us.
After taking a deep breath, I take the first step to setting the plan into motion.
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Update:
So I've had to move back to my hometown with a friend but in doing so I had to find another job.
To be honest, writing was the last thing on my mind, but I've recently been trying to get back into it.
I can guarantee probably a chapter a month until January when I think I can be more consistent.
Thanks to those who have been patient with me in my troubling times and I can assure you that with some more time, I can bring out more works.