They were grand, 200 meters tall, pure steel surrounding a whole military fort. Almost impenetrable. When the Federation soldiers saw it at a distance they all admired it, Bowin himself could barely believe what he was seeing. The only things that could compare where the great walls of china, but they paled in comparison.
Soon they arrived, the siege had started. Bowin and the rest of the men followed Sani to the sewers. It was easy to break in, the harder part was to find a way out of it. It where 40 of them crawling around in those sewers like rats. Bowin, ignoring the fact that they walked through excrement, held his focus.
Nobody talked much except for following Sani's lead. Occasionally she would ask for council from Stanley or Bowin. Both of them had left a memorable impact on the previous battle. Bowin being known for his tactical mind and Stanley for his on the ground battle ability.
Eventually they found a way out, climbing out of a well cover. When it was finally Bowin's turn to exit, following after Sani and Stanley, he was greeted by long hallways.
"Do you have any idea where the control panels are?" Stanley asked.
"We must be close." Sani replied. It was a race against time now, going from one direction to another. Occasionally they would run into Luksano men, but these were just individuals going about their day.
It seems that they haven't taken note of our presence. But that was a thought to soon. What would follow where squads of soldiers jumping in to fight against Bowin and the rest of the squad.
They would be wiped out on after the other but the challenge became harder and harder every time.
They ran upstairs, no elevator, a alarm went of. Their presence was acknowledged. Battle was joined by more men.
Jace seemed to look forward to the battle, in a way that seemed bloodlusted. He wanted to kill the Luksano men. And he would get the most of them compared to the rest of the group. Vander would still be terrified for a fight and would hide whenever he could. Rollo was a solid as always, dependable in his role.
Bowin himself wasn't as quick on the attack, but he did a good enough job. That war wasn't what would get to him, it was the fact that his squad would often drift apart.
Jace in the thrill of battle would often abandon his position for a reckles assault, Rollo, in a way to keep the formation strong would try to play both his position and Jace's. But it wouldn't be that good. Vander was hiding so Bowin would try to fill his Role. It was a failing team.
Unlike that of Stanley: working together like a well oiled machine filling in for each others weaknesses. It was majestic really. Once after a conflict Bowin got called over to Sani, "You need to work on your squad." She hissed, "It's a mess and as squad leader it's your responsibility to keep it functioning."
Bowin didn't really catch it but he believed he saw Stanley smirking in the corner of his eye.
It kinda stung, he wanted to be good in his position, to satisfy Sench and Howl.
They finally arrived at the control center: windows stretching from one part of the room to another showing what was beyond the wall. Many men sitting behind big bulky computers, some of them with holographic maps, others with statistics and more.
They sat in rows of these blocky computers.
"Run Lieutenant Vorst!" A heroic man jumped in front of the Bowin and his group, shielding whatever he could. He was gunned down instantly. The other men there didn't bear any arms yet they were gunned down to.
The man Bowin assumed was Lieutenant Vorst, pale tall man, tried to scurry of through another exit was shot four times in the head. A scary coincidence.
Sani rushed to the panel, the tapped a few buttons and the thousands of soldiers that waited outside swarmed in. The gates were open Santos had almost fallen.
Then, without announcement, the door of the other entrance flew open. A figure, tall, dark and scary flew into the room like a shadow, being followed by many more.
"Say," the dark man said immediately hiding behind one of those computers, his followers copied his moves, "which one of you killed Lieutenant Vorst."
No one answer for a moment, and then Jace spoke up, "Lots of us shot at him, but you can pin the kill on me!" He was smiling ear to ear as he said that.
"Okay," the dark man said, "Then which one of you killed Halta,"
"That would be me!" Stanley announced, he fixed the glasses on his face as if to indicate pride.
The dark man spoke again as his form slithered from one cover to another, "and last but not least. Who was behind that ingenuous plan that got Halta killed?"
Bowin hesitated to answer, he honestly didn't want to. "That would be my buddy here, Bowin!" Rollo shouted from behind, "We call him balls of steel or balls for short." Shivers went through Bowin's body as Rollo stuck his tongue out to him. He thought he was a tease but he was just making Bowin uncomfortable.
"I played a part in that decision yes." He said eventually.
"Listen Quitney!" Sani yelled, "Who cares about specifics just know this. We are soldiers of the Stacks federation and we are here to end your hold on Santos."
The Quitney was silent for a moment, "You three boys, know that I'm after you." He moved faster than a figure of his size should be able to and ran closer to Bowin's group. Rifle in his hands and up to no good.
When Bowin and the rest of them started shooting at him he dodged like he knew the trajectory of the shots. Fire from the opposite side also started. The Luksano soldiers had around 40 soldiers or less but they felt like more.
Organized, solid and with Quitney leading them they were unstoppable. Vast amounts of Federation soldiers were being taken out in moments, unable to hit the lightning fast beast.
In the moment, being panicked and all Bowin started formulating a plan. But it was as if something blocked his thinking, he had to ask for direction. "Sani! What do she do? How do we beat him, Sench wants us to win, I have to prove myself for him."
Sani was too busy barking orders to stop the ruthless attack that was overwhelming them, then, "Retreat! We have to retreat our mission is already done."
Then, out of nowhere Quitney jumped over where she was hiding and unable to react Sani was shot on the side of her stomach.
"Do you know how pathetic you are Bowin!?"
Before Bowin knew it Quitneys rifle was aiming at him. The captain had a disappointed expression, "When I heard that the Stack federation had defeated Halta with such genius i expected that a genius had landed on this planet."
Bowin froze in fear as the man spoke to him, seeming a feather the way he dodged every shot fired at him. "But what I got instead was nothing more than a machine, determined to serve everyone except himself." The dark man stood over Bowin moments later.
Bowin fired his rifle in a panisch but it got kicked out of his hand by Quitney. Bowin scrambled back, "I'm not a machine, I want to live."
Jace tried to attack the man head on but thrown away like a paper back, Rollo followed with similar result.
Quitney's lips curled in anger, "You have certainly not shown that my boy. Let me free you from a life that you wil suffer."
Bowin begged, but Quitney fired three shots in to his chest. The hurt like hell, burning feeling spreading and pulsating. Everything went black.
"Those who have no will, die." Echoed as Bowin enters a dark pit