Chapter 8 - The Choice

Still peering around the edges of the doorway I knew I had no choice but to get Rick back. It was only one man but we needed everybody we could get...last thing I needed was to have that thought hang on my head for a long time. Taking my survival blade I sliced off a thin sheet of metal from the blastdoor of the complex. Using it as a sort of shield, I ran half ducked behind the metal to Rick. Sure enough, as soon as I reached him I was under attack from two flanks to my right. Thankfully between Hans, Chris and me firing when I wasn't tending to Rick, we took out one while the other fled. With that done, we went back to the building to regroup. While we did I saw the other team dragging their man down so they could heal him. I let it go since I figured it would be best not to get their attention while we were still busy.
"Red leader, the base is under attack!" The radio squawked. Great, just lovely. Our base was under attack by their force and we still didn't know where the heck the other base was. "Ideas?!" I yelled, shaking off the bad thought and resuming my command stance.
"We split up and cover ground. When we find the base, we radio it in to the others."
"I hate to split up and possibly be picked off, but I see no other option. Hans, your with me, you two go north. Should you find it, don't be a hero and take it on yourself."
As we split up the clouds above us opened up and it started to pour down rain. Normally I would have cursed at the luck of things but it actually felt a bit good. Plus it might provide some good cover if we need it. Meanwhile I was hearing the firefight from the radio from the base. Man, what I wouldn't do to switch with them...I would go back to help but we needed to get their case first.
To get out of the rain we entered another apartment complex and entered the lobby area. As soon as we were walking to the lounge area a shot literally burned my nose hairs, thus we fell back. Hans took out the radar and turned it on. "Please be blue" I whispered under my breath. Indeed, a dot with a bright blue color showed up at the top of the screen. A break finally: we found the base! Now the only trouble was to get passed the five people in front of it...
We called for backup, and then Chris and Rick came back to our position. We knocked over a long table then hid behind under a hail of gunfire. I sat until the fire stopped for a second then pulling the D-1 over my head I let lose a few rounds and got back under. The others did the same. "Man, there's no end to these guys!" Hans said after reloading. I wasn't doing great on ammo myself, as I looked in my vest pocket and found only 2 mags left.
Then it hit me: duh! How could I forget? Every lounge has an access tunnel behind the bar. (It was something I learned in tactics training). I told the others to sit tight and not shoot. Then I crawled out of the lounge and into the basement area where the tunnel system was. I could still hear the fighting in the lounge, but then the radio came to life once more. "Sir, they have retreated from the base! What are our orders?" Retreated? Why? Then I heard the sound of glass shattering and bullets flying through the air. My little contraption was doing it's job as a distraction. As I lifted the grill on the tunnel behind the bar I looked over my shoulder and found the case lying between some beverage mugs. As soon as I grabbed it a sharp beep alerted the others to my presence and that the case was no longer secure. I quickly ducked back into the tunnel, then heard Hans and the others firing on the now confused opponents, who had completely forgotten about them and were running back to see where the case went. Their mistake! I chuckled in a sort of victory as I emerged from the basement. But then the radio came back, with some not pleasant news: "Were pinned down from both sides! We need backup!" Dam, either go back and help and risk losing the case or leave them to fend for themselves and win. I ordered the people at the base to help them out while I made my way to the base myself. Only problem, I was by myself for the next 10 blocks of open space. I ran as fast as my little legs in stiff armor could muster, just stopping to see around building corners for opposition.
As soon as I arrived back at base I saw what I feared: with the base unguarded an opponent stayed behind and was running out of the entrance with MY case. Taking one of my extra mags I took out a few bullets from the chamber and put them in a empty tube that was on the street. Wadding some napkins I picked up from the lounge as a sort of fuel I added a bit of heat from my lighter. Then I ran behind the building to the other side. As soon as the flames hit the bullets they fired off as though I was there. The enemy thought he was under fire from that direction so he hid behind a concrete wall, which was right in front of the building. Too easy. Hit him with my Mann 10 times and he was out cold. Grabbing the case from his hands I ran back into my base and put both cases on table. Then opening each case I activated the beacon inside them to signal the end of the game. Exhausted, mentally and physically, I put my head on the table. As I rested a ship flew overhead and landed on the ground outside the base. Thunder with a few other personnel stepped out of the ship and made their way to the other players. Thunder came to me first.
"Well son, I don't know what to think. You made it back to base with both cases and won the game, but your entire squad ended up dead in battle. Everyone but you that is. Should you had made a better choice, you might've kept alive a bit more. Needs work." Then he left. NEEDS WORK?! I did it, I won the game for the team! And all I got was 'needs work'? I hit my head on the table again. Dang, there is no winning.