Outside of Conflict Zone, Hollander Mall
1700 Hours
"Ma'am, the civilians are now being evacuated!" Major Adams said to Dorothy, standing in front of her laptop."Good. How about the doppelgänger? Dorothy replied to Major Adams.
"She's being escorted and to be extracted as well."
"Excellent! I heard she got wounded. Would she make it?"
"The medics took care of the bleeding and her wound is sterile. She will make it!"
Dorothy looked at Major Adams with her glasses, sporting a blonde ponytail, dressed in blue corporate attire. "I trust this plan will work, Major."
"It will, ma'am Dorothy West!" Major Adams replied.
[Marrick's POV]
Marrick was walking ahead of twenty civilians. He, along with twelve mercenaries, were evacuating the civilians taking the southeast route to the port. They were moving a steady pace, luckily there were no undead or enemy troops on their route so far.A mech was behind of them. Its left arm was damaged earlier at the mall, so it can only operate its right cannon and missile pods. In front of the mech, there was a woman with a veil covered her face. To Marrick, she looked familiar because of her figure and her clothes.
Marrick did not let it bother him. He noticed that the woman was injured. Making a scene would only make things worse. It could be someone important to the company, revealing the person may make problems for him.
The lead scout suddenly signalled for everyone to stop. Marrick, along with the other mercenaries, guided the civilians to take cover. Their lead scout investigated the path before them with his binoculars.
The sun was nearly setting. They needed to pick up the pace if they wished to catch up with the submarine that were to extract them. Their commanding officer at the back was getting impatient. Putting the entire evacuation to harm's way was out of the question."I need a marksman to help me!" The scout spoke on the radio.
"This is Marrick, I am capable!" Marrick replied to the scout.
"Can I rely on you?" The scout asked.
"Yes, you can!" Marrick confidently said.
"Come with me!" The scout said and signalled Marrick to climb the tallest building in the area.
As the two climbed to the fifth floor of the tallest building in the area. The scout became Marrick's spotter and scouted for enemies nearby.Marrick trained his sights and saw several enemy militants in the area approaching. They carried heavy armaments and received support from technical vehicles equipped with machine guns.
"It's the first time I see the enemy not using the undead! They are also well armed. They are no ordinary terrorists. Someone may have supported them!"
The scout commented, which Marrick agreed. The scout radioed the commanding officer and asked for orders. "This is torchlight. We have confirmed the movement of enemy militants. I cannot confirm of their numbers, but they are closing in."
"Is there a way we could bypass them?" The commander asked.
"Negative, they are all around the place." The scout said.
"I will let the civilians hide somewhere and send the rest of the troops to force an opening. The safety of the doppelgänger is our outmost priority!" The commander replied to the scout."Roger!" the scout replied and looked at Marrick beside him. "The commander decided to leave the civilians and force our way. Our mech could make quick work on their forces."
"What!? Are there other ways?" Marrick asked the scout.
"No, as you see, the enemies are everywhere, and we don't have enough manpower and firepower. If we can force a window for our doppelgänger to escape, our mission is a success!" The scout replied.
[Dorothy West's POV]The drone monitored the situation on the southeast route and showed the feed on Dorothy's laptop. The situation looked desperate for the evacuation effort.
"This doesn't look good," Dorothy said to Major Adams beside of her.
"What about fire support, ma'am? The submarine should have arrived at the port," Major Adams suggested.
"It is a risky move, Major." Dorothy said and scanned the area, controlling the drone from her laptop.
Seeing areas where the enemy numbers were plenty. She decided Major Adam's suggestion could work to cause mayhem and confusion in their ranks. Unlike the undead earlier, which had no senses, inexperienced militants will cower in precision bombardments.
"I believe you are right, Major. I will communicate through high command to see if they could lend us some firepower from our submarine at the port."
Dorothy communicated through her secure lines from her phone and contacted her superiors. She nodded as she was talking to them and said, "We need the firepower ASAP. The doppelgänger should reach extraction!""I see… thank you!" Dorothy ended the call.
"What did the superiors say?" Major Adams asked.
"They are ordering precision strikes from missiles and loitering ammunition. It will take time, therefore, I will coordinate with the troops from the southeast route." Dorothy said.
"Let me do it, ma'am!" Major Adams replied.
"Please do, Major!"[Marrick's POV]The scout and Marrick didn't move an inch, stalking at the enemy positions a mile away. Although the enemy didn't know that the evacuation was heading their way. Marrick thought that it is best to just slip away from them.
Before Marrick could speak, the scout received a radio transmission from the commander from below. "This is your commander, speaking! I have received an order from Watchtower. They said a precision strike is on its way."
"When will it be, commander?" The scout asked.
"ETA ten minutes!"
"Very well, we will wait here!" The scout said.
After talking on the radio, the air suddenly whooshed, signalling of heavy ordnance coming their way. The scout and Marrick thought it was from their friendly forces. Explosions soon rocked the enemy's positions, causing them to scatter in response to the complete destruction around them.
"Yeah, take that, you lousy sonofa...!" Marrick cheered, but the scout stopped him.
"That's not ours!" The scout warned Marrick.