Shadow War

Dom shouldered his way past Baird, keeping his head as low as possible while he got into a better position behind the lead derrick's middle wheel. He sent out as much blind fire as he could to keep the approaching Locust from coming any closer and to keep any Tickers from getting any bright ideas about blowing themselves up on the derrick. He could tell from the body language and still wet clothing that the Locust had interrupted more than just the repairs on the middle derrick's wheel hub. Baird was pissed. More pissed than usual because he was deadly silent as he sent several dozen bullets toward an advancing drone, nearly all finding a new home in the creatures crotch. Dom tried not to say anything or the next thing getting it's jewels shot off could be him.

Dom was focused more on a pair of tickers than Baird's apparent moodiness. Not that either were an uncommon sight. The two walking bombs exploded into streaks of liquefied flesh less than twenty feet from the derrick. Slightly dazed, ears still ringing Dom lowered his hands from his eyes just in time to be caught in the shoulder by a stray Locust bullet. The thing burned like molten metal in his arm. He ducked behind the wheel as more of those bullets sailed through the space he had just occupied. Holding his Lancer to his chest to catch his breath, Dom found himself staring straight into the eyes of a Ticker. The thing was literally vibrating as the fuses on the explosives strapped to it's back disappeared.

He had just enough time to grab Baird by the collar of his armor and haul him bodily out of the way. He had only taken a few steps when the creature exploded, sending him ass first in the air and onto a half dead Locust; now fully dead from breaking Dom's fall, though the impact jarred him almost as much as landing on solid ground would have. It took him a few moments to get his bearings and what he found he did not like one bit. The line of derricks was some thirty feet away, the one he and Baird had just been under was now lying on it's side, smoke rising from it's undercarriage. He hoped that anyone left inside was still alive. He quickly brought his thoughts back to his own situation, because he had not only been thrown from the derricks, he had been thrown directly into a line of advancing Locust.

Dom brought up his Lancer and fired off a quick volley that caught the foremost Drone in the face. He scrambled to his feet, strafing the line of Locust with blind fire as he backpedaled toward cover. The only problem with this was that with the flatness of the plains, there was almost no cover to be had unless he could squeeze himself behind the odd prickly shrub that was not on fire or trampled to the ground. Dom glanced over his shoulder toward the others still firing toward the Locust in front of him. He was nearly half way to the derricks when he heard something go 'thunk' at his feet. He had just registered what that something was when something else slammed into his side. Dom landed on the ground hard, his face in the dirt as a weight pushed down on him from behind. The weight stayed on him along with the stench of Locust until the the frag exploded.

Dom rolled to his back, lancer ready to put holes in who ever had pushed him. But all he saw in front of him were dead Locust and a Boomshield that had been shoved into the ground to protect him from the shrapnel. He shoved himself to his feet, not having time to ponder what had just happened and made his way back to where the rest of the Gears were taking cover behind the massive wheels of the last two derricks. Baird clapped a hand on his shoulder just as something sailed right by Dom and hit him square between the eyes. As he stepped back, ready to run should this be an explosive, another landed a foot away by Dom's knee. Baird picked the object up, turning it around in his hands. It took him a few moments to realize that what had hit him was a full magazine. By then, two more had landed by them, making three full magazines for their lancers and one for their pistols.

Marcus took one of the lancer magazines and pocketed it. His eyes darted around as he tried to find who ever had thrown them, but all he saw was sand and blood around the derricks. Several explosions could be heard in the distance, sand blown up like geysers, raining down on them. In between the sound of blind fire from both sides, the steady boom, click, boom of a Longshot could be heard. The sound put every one of the Gears on edge as each tried to avoid putting their heads into a sniper's sights. Not even the silence could get them up the ladder to the top of the derricks. But along with the gunfire, the sniper fire had stopped as well. The convoy, or what was left of it was going to have to get moving in case the Corpser that had opened those E-holes showed up to punch a few more. Dom chanced it first, jumped from behind the middle wheel and high tailed it to the lead APC.

The others waited several seconds before scrambling up the ladders or sprinting to the rear APC. Pvt. Rheems was about to be the last of Epsilon on the rear derrick when he spotted something moving among the bodies. He let go of the rungs, grasping his Boltock pistol as he flipped the safety off. He waited as the trailing derrick started moving, eying the now quiet battlefield for any movement. After a few moments he flipped the safety back on and caught the ladder. As he stepped onto the deck, a dark object flew over the rail and landed several feet from him.

He and several others from Epsilon pointed their Lancers or Hammerbursts at it, backing away in case the package exploded. Rheems stepped forward and opened the pack and dumped the contents out onto the deck. Inside what he discovered was a Locust ammo pack, were several canteens of water, scavenged medical supplies, ammo clips and a few grenades. He rushed to the edge as he heard commotion from the lead derrick. He looked over the edge and back to the now retreating battlefield. The only thing out of the ordinary was a set of small tracks coming from the bodies to where the derricks had been parked.

Marcus pressed his ear piece as he listened to the activity aboard the derricks. The leader of Delta squad shook his head, holding the now empty ammo pack in his hands. Dom was sampling one of the water canteens from inside and handed it back to Marcus who took a drink from it as well. The food from inside was dried Rockworm meat, but at least it was still fresh. Delta had developed a taste for Rockworm during their time in the Locust tunnels. According to Baird, it tasted like tough pork loin but it beat most of what they scavenged by a long shot.

“Hey Marcus,” Baird's voice filtered into his ear, the amusement hard to miss. “You get a gift too?” Marcus confirmed that they had indeed found the pack waiting for them in their APC when they scrambled in. Dom had nearly jumped through the roof when he had landed rather hard on the over stuffed pack. Santiago ripped a piece of Rockworm meat off with his teeth and chewed as he got back up to maximum speed, taking the canteen back from Marcus and washing the slightly bitter tasting meat down.

He thought back to the grenade earlier, silently thanking what ever it was that had kept him from being turned into swiss cheese. He raised his canteen and glanced back at Marcus. “To our shadow,” he watched as Marcus lifted his hand with the hunk of meat in it. He heard his statement echoed by Baird and Cole over the comm and wondered if he would ever get to thank the mysterious entity that was helping them. But he also supposed that just keeping himself and the civilians alive was thanks enough and he took one last drink from the canteen before stowing it in a pouch on his left leg.

-

The storage bay of the trailing derrick had been turned into a rough medical bay. The contents of several med-kits were strewn about along with blood soaked bandages and several syringes carrying antibiotics and pain killers. The remains of the Locust hide armor lay off to one side, a hole at about shoulder level soaked through with blood. The figure maneuvering around in the dark seemed almost unfamiliar with her own skin. She slid her hand over her shoulder where she had wrapped it as best she could, her eyelids already drooping from the adrenaline crash and pain killers. Her arms were thin and muscled, almost feeling ungainly to her. Her hands ghosted over her torso, feeling the ribs that expanded with each breath, the taught stomach rising and falling with her chest.

Her hand traveled lower, finding the junction of her thighs. Her fingers ghosted over the warm flesh, almost exploring further when a near physical pain bloomed in her chest. A small sob tore through the darkened bay. Her fingers had resurrected memories she had thought were long dead but Stephan's voice came back to her as clear as if he were whispering into her ear. The first time they had ever been together, he had touched her in this way. It hurt to remember, however letting go of the memory was almost unbearable. She struggled to hold on to his voice in her mind, the way his cologne smelled when he had lifted her onto the General's desk. Her hands had been shaking as she tried her best to un-tuck his dress shirt. They had both laughed when Stephen jumped at how cold her hands were. She always had cold hands, but he put them back on his skin, whispering in her ear that he would be warm enough for both of them.

It had felt like time was slipping through their fingers, nothing they did could slow the second hand's progression around the clock's face. So they sped up, not minding what clothing was left on as what had started as a slow build up turned into a desperate battle to sate both of their desires before the General returned from his lunch break. She had remembered his lips covering hers, muffling her startled cry as he entered her in one swift thrust. The thrill of the moment blew the pain from her mind as each struggled to find their release before the minute hand crossed the half-hour mark. It had all felt like a blur until that one moment, Stephan's fingers working deftly where their bodies connected, when the world ceased to exist. His lips covered hers again as she rode out the pleasure, vaguely aware of Stephen following her into that blinding ecstasy. Neither had had enough time to properly cool off as they dressed as fast as they could. She had darted out into the wide hall just as the General turned the corner coming toward his office.

She could hear Stephan straightening up papers and righting several pictures that had been toppled over on his desk. She hid near one of the windows to make sure that Stephen was alright when she saw that knowing smirk on the General's face. Stephan's color was still high and he had a conspicuous wrinkle that seemed to descend in a spiral down one pant leg. Though rather than berate his assistant, the General merely chuckled and asked how she was doing. She had run to the mess hall trying to hide her giggling as she basked in the after glow of not getting caught. That was when she had found out about Bea's engagement. And when the others had found out about her sexcapades.

The woman panted on the floor of the storage bay, her eyes closed as she tried to relish every single detail of that memory. She held it tightly to her for one more moment, then let it slip back into the oblivion that it had surfaced from. She curled up on the floor, silent tears falling from her eyes as exhaustion and the medication over came her and she settled into a deep, dreamless sleep with only the darkness to keep her company.