Ch 23 - No Holds Barred

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“…on second thought, this arm is probably not the best idea”. Emilia shrugged, realizing the implications of equipping such a weapon on her right arm. It’s current configuration was nothing less than lethal unless she used the side of the blade to strike, which would only serve to damage the blade. She dropped her backpack, leaving her back vulnerable to attack. “Fuck it”, she said with a sadistic smile.

~

Mark and Aaron sent up an orange flare and left their positions. They each drew their side arms as they headed towards the rest of the team. Sirens went off immediately across the entirety of the arena an at least two-dozen agents of various teams were deployed to cease the activities of the games. Aaron and Mark were quickly spotted by security personnel. Mark glanced up at them. It should’ve been known that Aaron and he sent up the flare, so it was odd that they were held at gunpoint by two agents.

Aaron muttered “you know, I can read body language too. This situation isn’t good”.

“For you to bother to tell me that much, I can only agree with you. Got a plan”?

“Well, for starters…” Aaron kneeled down and placed his pistol on the ground. He then took out a match, and looked in a canister. “I assume you guys wont mind if I have a smoke, right”?

The guards looked at him and shrugged. Taking this for a “yes” Aaron dug around in the canister and removed two objects, the dropped the match inside and dropped to the ground. Mark mimicked his action as a flash grenade and three different flares were fired. Moments later, the current siren was overlapped with noises from two other alerts. Minutes later, the sound of gunfire could be heard across the base.

~

Jesse scarcely made it inside before the sirens went off. He groaned under his breath and switched from his rifle to his trademark dual-pistols. “I don’t suppose the cavalry will get here in time. Lets just hope no one gets hurt too badly…” With those words, Jesse charged ahead, quickly meeting up with Michelle and Allison. No sooner than he reached them did the sounds of more sirens could be heard. Mark and Aaron escaped in the confusion that followed.

~

Jessica and Mark left the medical ward, completely ignoring the stares of the staff on hand. They were accompanied by the two agents from team Omega. The four of them quickly incapacitated anyone who stood in their way as they made their way to the arena. They continued moving through the first set of sirens. Mark, who wasn’t awake during the strategy of the finals, questioned “what the hell is going on”?

Jessica replied “well, that would be the ‘live rounds fired’ notice. It should’ve actually been fire by our side, since only some of us should be carrying live rounds in the first place”.

“So, it was exactly as Michelle expected”?

“Yeah, pretty much”. Jessica replied. She then turned to the two from team Omega and took a combat stance. “Guys, I’m gonna have to ask you to make a choice. Pick a side, right now. Us, or Conrad and the rest of Omega. If you pick us, you get to tag along. If you pick Omega, we’ll give you a few seconds to get away, unless you attack. I think you already know what will happen if you do that though…”

Francisco grinned. “I think I’ll stick with the pretty girl here. Besides, there’s quite a bit more that needs to be discussed”.

David cracked his knuckles “That pretty girl’s boyfriend is right here. Also, what else needs to be discussed”? Multiple sirens followed that sentence. “You’ve got to be shitting me…”

Francisco shook his head “no, this is part of what needs to be discussed. You guys need to go. This place is no longer safe. I don’t think I need to remind you of the events of four years ago”.

“We remember, but what about you? If you’re just gonna change sides at the drop of a dime, we’d may as well save ourselves the trouble of dealing with you later” Jessica said seriously while glaring at them.

“No, we need to escape too. We have our things prepared, but no way out. If you help us, we’ll join you. We know of your team’s crazy mission record, both the bad… and the good”.

“Fine. Come with us. If you do anything even slightly questionable, your necks will be snapped before you can say ‘shit on a biscuit’ David warned. The unlikely quartet then headed towards Mark’s lab.

Rinoa’s sentry turrets lowered themselves and kept a lock on the extra visitors while David had a chat with Rinoa. “What’s the situation”?

<<Currently, there are codes 4, 6, 19, 33 and 34>>

“Dafuq does that mean”?

<<Code 4: unauthorized us of live rounds during training/competition. Code 6: Cross team friendly fire (that isn’t Jesse vs Conrad). Code 19: Hostiles in base. Those designated as ‘hostile’ are team lambda. This is an error, however, not much can be done about it at the current time. Code 33: rebellion in progress. Code 34: Base under assault>>.

“So, the base is under assault due to a rebellion, which has been pinned on team lambda”?

<<This is the logical conclusion>>.

Jessica’s eyes widened. “What the fuck are we supposed to do, there’s only nine of us, and we didn’t do anything”!

<<Actually, there are eleven members designated to team Lambda. The munitions range keeper Bubba-Billy-Joe-Bob, and Colonel Dumbass are also technically parts of the team, though only in name>>.

“That doesn’t change much” Jessica sighed.

<<Shall I initiate plan ‘Lvl up’>>?

“What the hell is that”? Both Jessica and David asked at the same time. Specifications and information instantly appeared on the large screen in the lab.

“Isn’t that the level project”? Jessica questioned.

“This is crazy, but if you suggest it…” David groaned.

<<It was Michelle, Mark, and Jesse’s recommendation to plan for such an event. Shall I begin preparations>>?

“Yes, do so immediately” David commanded.

<<Affirmative. Initiating order “L2”. Your team’s communications systems will be switched to alternate channels. Communication with members outside of team lambda via comm-link will not be possible until further notice>>

“Wait, what”? Jessica shouted.

Francisco questioned “What about me and Philip? I’m sticking with you guys, its crazy out there”.

<<They will be added to team lambda’s roster, and allowed to communicate with you. They will unfortunately be designated as targets of rebellion. Is this ok>>?

Francisco and Philip nodded. “Yeah, we have our fair share of issue with… things. We’ll be fine with that, especially if we can pay back a few people for some things”.

“Ok, well, that’s fine, but we still have to get the rest of our team out of the arena” Jessica sighed.

Rinoa, Francisco, and Philip replied in unison. <<Leave that to me>> and “Leave that to us” respectively”.

Moments later, the building shook, once, twice, thrice. The shaking continued for several minutes. As Francisco and Philip left the room with the support of the A.I. Rinoa, David asked “We aren’t getting hit with an air strike, are we”?!

<<No, all aircraft are grounded. I have disabled several of the deployment gates for vehicles. There should be little threat of this becoming a full scale micro-war. Also, the shaking was the detachment and transfer of living quarters>>.

“Mind repeating that… in a way that makes sense”? Jessica shook her head as she asked.

<<I believe it’s like moving, only I’m speeding up the packing process by several thousand times. I do specifically recall saying ‘leave that to me’. I have that time stamped and recorded as proof>>.

David and Jessica merely stared at the screen as various images from around the base appeared and disappeared. It was all they could do, since they couldn’t physically stare at Rinoa.

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