My ATS Story

Chapter 18:Firing Lines

The two replacements were waiting for Deus when he left TDH�s abode. He looked a bit grumpy.

�What was that about?� Agent47 asked.

�Nothing,� muttered DE as he shook he head, pushing the other two in front of him. �Get your gear, meet me up in the house in ten.�

Deus went upstairs himself to grab a quick glass of water. Everyone else was already on the firing range, ready for target practice. By the time he had done so, the other two were hauling their bags up to their new rooms. The old ones had been emptied out, the possessions rather ghoulishly redistributed. That�s the thing about being a survivalist- you let nothing go to waste, DE thought bitterly to himself. Eagerly, the two new squadmates dumped their stuff and ran back down to Deus, who was waiting rather impatiently at the bottom of the stairs with his empty cup.

�C�mon, we�re on the range today. You got lucky- TDH promised us a week off patrol.�

�Really?�

�No. But I�m pretty sure he�ll agree. Let�s go talk to JB.�

The three of them went down the stairs again, past TDH. Deus nodded briefly at him as they passed, and he smiled in return. JB was sitting on his chair as always, napping. Deus knocked loudly on one of the bars, and JB started awake.

�Oh, it�s our local hero, eh? Taking these two out shooting?�

�Yep. Gimme my guns and a box for each.�

�Sure thing. What about those two?�

�Give this one,� he said pointing to Agent 47, �One of the M16s we picked up the other day and a sidearm if he didn�t bring one. The other one can have whatever he came with. You DID bring along weapons, didn�t you?�

�Yeah.�

�Give �em what he brought, plus a box.�

�But, sir...� Agent began to object, �I have my...�

�Shut up. We need more firepower, period.�

Agent sighed and did as he was told. The weapons slid across the counter cleanly. KeenKid was another long gun, it appeared. In addition to Deus� usual complement of arms, a sub-nosed revolver, a larger magnum revolver, and a bolt-action rifle with a large scope came across with the M16. DE grabbed his stuff first, and handed the others their equipment. They trudged back up the stairs, Agent grumbling the entire way.

Soon, they were outside. A makeshift firing range had been erected near the woods, where the rogue�s gallery of Deus�s squads awaited. The oldest one was thumbing shells into a shotgun as a cigarette stuck limply out of a corner of his mouth. Looking up, she smiled through a goatee just beginning to go salt-and-pepper.

�Fresh meat for the table, Deus?�

�You could say that, Intrepid.�

There was laughter from the group as a whole as they went back to tending to their respective weapons.

�Agent47, Cmdr. Keenkid - oh, by the way, you�re now just �Keenkid�- meet my boys. That�s Saucerat, your new sergeant-�

The scraggly young man looked up from the pieces of rifle he was dealing with. Long, almost anime- style hair framed his face. A long cut graced one cheek, forcing his smile onto the other side of his face. The late summer weather was already beginning to cool, so he already body a long black coat over his usual dreary, black attire.

�Intrepid over there is with your squad...�

The forty-three year old barely looked up. His hair was already streaked with grey, but at least he had tried to keep the rest of his body in good shape. As the �veteran� of the group, he had the most leeway with everyone, which he abused as often as he could.

�And that girl behind him is Gothique, the other sergeant in the squad.�

She looked up, coldly assessing the two newcomers. Her hair was dyed purple now (where she had found the time or materials, no one knew) and butchered short. She wore her favorite NIN shirt, fishnet stockings, and a miniskirt today. She pushed rounds into a magazine absentmindedly, doing a once over of the people in her boyfriend�s squad. She noticed Deus looking at her with unusual intensity, but ignored it. She knew she was gorgeous and eye catching today, but she questioned for who.

�Hey,� she said simply, then went back to her chores.

Deus introduced the rest of their soon-to-be squadmates: Baked, Worldwatcher, Justicar, Morbid, and Amantine.

Agent47 looked around. The members of Deus�s squad were all extraordinarily different- men and women aged sixteen to forty-three, from all walks of life.

�So these are Deus� Devils?�

�What?�

�That�s what they call you below.�

�Deus�s Devils, eh? I like it,� DE himself muttered.

Most smiled and nodded, while a few others just shrugged indifferently. They spent the morning shooting and getting to know each other better in the brief respite they had earned for themselves.



Yay. Now, I'm all thinking up to edit this craziness once it's done and add it as a nice, beefy, editted whole up on here. But that's later. Enjoy. and REPLY, dammit! I need opinions and commentary!

DE

[Edited on 10-3-2004 by DeusEx]

Looking good, DE. I guess I have my work cut out for me for my next chapter. This has been a lot of fun so far though.

Well i'm far behind with my stuff, I've been holding back from posting my chapters for about a week while I was waiting to get permission from someone I wanted to include in my story. I should be able to catch up, I've got enough ideas, it's just a matter of taking the time to sit in front of my computer and writing.

hey, awesome installment again! i'm looking foreward for when the # hits the fan again.

Also stay tuned for my next chapters, I'm gonna write a few chapters about my trip to the bunker because the action begins even before I get to the bunker for me and my friends.

Nice work DE, really getting a feel for the charachters and their 'predicament'! Keep the good stuff coming my friend.

My next chapter, Sleep Is Tough To Come By, is up on my Stories From The Bunker. As always the ball is back in DE's court for the next chapter.

And also, I've posted my next chapter, still trying to catch up to you guys

NIce setup Deus. You can feel the storm coming. MORE,MORE,MORE.

(Note: Occurs directly after TDH's Sleep is Tough to Come By in his side of the bunker.

Chapter 19: Eve

The sun scorched the horizon pink and red, cloud illuminated an odd indigo color. The pines cast long shadows on the freshly cut grass as the members of the bunker began to finish their work. Deus sat on the porch, surrounded by the articles of war. Boxes of ammo, magazines and gun were stacked around him. Sitting cross on a wooden chair a few feet away was Springer, the dying light barely making its way to him. Instead, the end of a lit cigar shone a dull orange on his work. Much like Deus, he was preparing for the coming, inevitable battle. He finished a pistol mag of nine millimetre, and swung open the cylinder of a revolver, carefully slipping a round into each chamber. All that was heard above the chirping of crickets and birds was the grunting of the workers as they finished little touches on the trenches before filtering past the two warriors. They were going to rest, try to fortify the interior in case it came to that, and hope for the best.

DE nodded to himself, looking across the scene. It was beautiful, even more so as everyone filtered back inside and the sun sunk lower in the sky. Springer and him had been at this for almost an hour, silently preparing.

�You know what, Springer?�

�What?�

�It�s a good day to be alive, today.�

�Why?�

�Dunno. Just a good day to be alive. Lookit that sun, smell the air. Did you ever spend a day just doing that?�

�Yeah, of course.�
�Dammit... well, I didn�t. It�s something new to me. I used to be a bad ways, and this si the first time in God knows how long I�ve felt like being alive.�

�Good on you, son. Good on you.�

He nodded, and resumed his work. The piles of full mags got bigger and bigger, ready for the coming battle. A pair of shotguns were loaded, along with several rifles. Then, it came to less repetitive work...the sharpening of blades. Oh, they knew it would come to blades, deep down inside. Each sharpened several knives to a razor edge. The smack of stone on steel replaced the sound of shells and bullets clicking into place.

�Deus... I gotta ask you, man. Who are you?�

�What�s that supposed to mean?�

The scrape of the stone across Deus�s sword stopped.

�Half the time, you�re DE, the leader. You�re a good friend to your people, a bit weird but good folk. But out there...out there, you�re someone else. You come back soaked in blood, with more holes in you than you can count.�

�I do what I have to in order to make sure my people don�t come back in bags.�

Deus� teeth gritted against each other. Springer was a friend, one of his people. Why was he questioning Deus?

�Yeah... I know. Which are you?�

�I...I don�t know.�

The scraping resumed in the silence as the shadows lengthened. Only a few people remained outdoors, and they pretended not to look. A pile of blades, guns and ammo had accumulated around the two. Deus felt angry and uncomfortable, while Springer was worried- more so for Deus� squad than for anything else. The sun was below the horizon, and yet they continued to work in the shadows. Suddenly, the porch light flashed on. DE�s eyes squeezed shut, stars exploding behind his eyelids as he raised the whetstone defensively against the bright light. In the blindness, a pair of thin arms wrapped around him. The skin was soft against his bare arms, and Deus� grimace against the bright light turned peaceful. The scent - unmistakeably female- drifted into his nose. Hair brushed against his cheek, and he felt the arms clasp across his chest. A little squeeze was given.
�Come inside, Deus. We�re on watch in six hours, and patrol four after that,� an almost musical voice whispered to him. � Get some sleep.�

Velvet lips brushed against his cheek, then withdrew. DE opened his eyes, and looked behind him as Gothique disappeared up the stairs. Absentmindedly, he brushed away a single, purple hair that she had left on him. Even as he stood, he could feel her lips on his face. Springer just shook his head and said nothing.



Stay tune, my faithful...I promise an epic thingy wednesday! And if there's one thing I want... it's comments. Opinions. SCHNELL!

DE



[Edited on 16-3-2004 by DeusEx]

My next chapter is posted and ready for your reading pleasure at my Bunker Story thread. Remember to keep watching both threads for all your Bunker story fun, boys and girls!

And don't forget mine, pre-bunker action coming real soon!!!

Very atmospheric, maybe even prophetic. I can just imagine it being like that if it came to it.

You're not John Titor in disguise are you ?

Chapter 20:Hour of the Wolf

A day later, it happened. They came.

At 2:03 AM, the furthest proximity alarms went off. Every squad grabbed their weapons, dashed for their respective position. Every light in the house was darkened, and everyone was in position in seconds.

Deus was down in the trenches with his squad, listening to the radio. It was silent, as per Lysergic�s orders. Sauce ran the bolt of his rifle, muttering to himself. Gothique sat next to him, panting heavily. DE checked him pistol clip repeatedly, trying to think about how Lysergic�s plan would work. They had one shot, for one bird, and it was only an ambush once. DE hoped it would work, hoped none of his had to die, wished no one had to die. He looked over to Sauce, who was fiddling with the straps on his vest. Deus smiled and thumped his best friend on the shoulder. Sauce had tried to give it to Gothique, but she had refused. He knew arguing was pointless, so he strapped it on himself.

Ranger and KeenKid lay next to the large banks of high-power floodlights, the best snipers from each squad around them. They swept the edges of the forest with commandeered night vision binoculars, waiting for the inevitable. Around them, people fiddled with bolts and scope settings. Everyone waited for a target, most of them trying to think about how this was no different from a game or turkey shoot. Only Ranger and a few other veterans thought -KNEW- different, even then after only one or two skirmishes.

The entire fighting arm of ATS was ready, coiled, tense. Everyone was decked out as best they could be, with as many flak jackets distributed to officers first. Almost everyone now packed a sidearm and some sort fo melee weapon, ranging from batons to knives to Mace. The snipers had extra rifles beside them, preloaded and donated by members who could or would not fight. Inside the bunker, redoubts had been formed on each level. ATSers who would not fight in the main battle prepared to defend their new homes.

At 2:11 AM, the first of the security cameras were taken out. Lysergic, John Bull and a bleary-eyed TheDemonHunter watched a number of the cameras burst into static as they were taken out. No reports from the field chattered to them, nor did anything else. Only the silence of blue and gray screens and the buzz of perimeter alarms going off offered any sort of audio to the scene. It was surreal. The operators were wide eyed, disbelieving as they watched a mix of corporate soldiers and American soldiers shoot out cam after cam.

Keenkid and Ranger watched the first squad hesitantly leave the cover of the brush. Other forms lay there, unmoving. In the green and black world through the binoculars, they moved with precision, arms at the ready. They could see no foe, no resistance. It looked uninhabited. They advanced halfway across the open area. The cars were all gone (driven two miles down the road and hidden), and to them it seemed as if the complex was abandoned. At the halfway mark, the soldiers radioed their superiors, and the other squads began to emerge from the foliage, weapons ready as they advanced in a line. Ranger counted a good sixty men in five twelve-man teams, plus the advance team of five. The forward squad moved ever closer to the trenches weapons sweeping back and forth. Keenkid could make out the night vision goggles they wore...their Achilles heel.

�Pssst...Sauce...�

�Yeah?�

�Dude, if we don�t make it out of this, you were my best friend, and I wish you the best.�

�Same to you.�

�# omae, let�s give �em hell and count this # up later.�

Gothique smiled to herself, witnessing the whispered exchange between the two. Best friends to the end. No one thought it would turn out the way it did instead. Everyone�s grips tightened on their weapons as the thump of feet was heard.

Ranger watched the enemy approach until they were fifteen feet from the trenches, then radioed it in.

�We�re go.�

Every other member in the house already had a target picked and zeroed in as best they could in the dark. In the basement they heard the news, and everyone sucked in a breath. The screen slowly filtered down to the same three views from camcorders jury-rigged into the system in the house. The soldiers in the trenches heard the announcement over their sergeant�s radios. They got to suck in one more breath themselves, squeeze their eyes shut, and barely even got to utter a prayer before Keenkid hit the lights. Havoc erupted the instant the bright lamps light up every inch of ground between the trenches and the woods.

The soldiers and mercenaries barely had time to cry out themselves as their night vision gear seared their eyes. Ranger and his snipers quickly selected targets -now brightly lit and unmoving- and quickly brought them down before moving to the next target. Some got back up, but not many. In the meantime, DE and the four squads in the trenches stood, weapons ready. Deus himself fired the first shot. One of the grunts was trying to tear his goggles off , ten feet away. In DE�s bleary eyes, he looked no older than he did. Then he was on his back in a pool of blood as Deus pulled the trigger. His shotgun boomed, sounding the death knell for that one unfortunate.

A torrent of fire pummelled the soldiers as ATSers sprouted from the trenches, their enemies reeling under the weight of fire and the bright lights. Many tried to go flat on their stomachs, but that simply made them better targets for the snipers. Panicking, an officer whipped his men into a lurching charge. Many got up only to me knocked down again and again as their body armor held under the impact of the fire. Eventually, the charge built momentum as the mercenaries and soldiers went cyclic, forcing the ATS militia to duck into their trenches. A few stray shots hit the floodlights, but not enough of them to really make a difference. A few members were wounded or killed in the rush, but most stayed down. Deus emptied the remaining shots from his shotgun and levelled his pistol. Beside him, Saucerat had both his pistols fisted and fired away. Between the two of them, six soldiers fell before they reached the trenches. DE shoved his back into his holster, while Sauce dropped one and whipped out his knife. As it always had been for eons before, the battle was to be decided in the chaos of melee.

In the bunker, the radios were absolute bedlam. People yelled, ran, screamed and generally did what they had to. Half the men and women under Ranger�s command outright upped and dashed down the stairs to help their squadmates before he could stop them. So, he settled for yelling into his radio to help from Lysergic. The rest tried to get a clean shot, and killed when they had a chance. In the main bunker, Lysergic tried to help as best he could. However, that consisted of yelling at people. Finally getting fed up, he grabbed a pistol and a shotgun before heading up past a gaping TDH to join the fight. He also grabbed the secret weapon that he had taken himself from the captured Hummer.

In the trenches, it was man on man. The ATSers fought with the rabid courage of cornered wolverines. However, superior training and weapons was slowly eating away at their numbers. The soldiers leaped into the trenches, trying to skewer or shoot the bunker-dwellers. They were ready, firing back, then attacking with anything at hand- rifle butts, brass knuckles, batons, or just plain fists. Saucerat at his side, Deus leaped up to meet the attackers. His katana whipped out of the scabbard, eviscerating a fortysomething sergeant on the draw. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he charged their ranks, cutting down all who stood before him. Deus knew their backs were to the wall, as they were desperately outnumbered. He stabbed another man, as Saucerat continued to fire, dropping his revolver once it ran out of bullets. He grabbed the next enemy�s rifle barrel, scalding his hands and pulling it past him . His SIG�s barrel kissed the man�s forehead just before blowing it apart. Gothique soon followed the pair as they fought their way down the lines, avatars of destruction.

Lysergic saw them. An army officer pointed a pistol at Deus as he beheaded a soldier on top of Worldwatcher as they struggled. Before the man could fire, his face exploded from the impact of a load of buckshot. Deus barely noticed as he tore down the lines. Soldiers and bunker dwellers grappled and fought, firing and killing. Deus�s Devils expanded outwards, sweeping all before them. They fought with a rage, a desire that bordered on madness. Many were wounded, but had seen enough action to ignore the more minor stuff. Soon, many of the enemy threw down their arms, or tried to flee. Those who ran were killed to a man by the snipers. However, as they stood panting and cheering, exultant in their victory, the sounds began to reach their ears. The moans of the wounded, the screams of the dying, and the patter of blood on the ground. More importantly, something else was hear.

The whoosh of helicopter blades.

A pair of choppers were spotted in the distance, approaching rapidly. Soon, they hovered above the battlefield, quietly looking down on the ATSers. Deus looked up, almost uncomprehending of why they just sat there, and how victory had been snatched form him. Suddenly, ropes were kicked out of the choppers - Black Hawks upon closer observation- and the gunners opened up. Saucerat fell behind Deus, screaming. Blood spewed from his head. Enraged, DE reloaded his pistol, firing wildly at the door gunners to no avail. Lysergic yelled to him as he broke into a run. Feeling close enough, he kneeled and took out the single LAW the Devils had captured. It was a single-use disposable rocket launcher. Lysergic began to pray under his breath as he aimed.

�LAW! On the ground!� he screamed to DE as he fired, reducing one of the choppers to flaming debris.

Deus looked to him. One moment, he looked triumphant, empty launcher in his hand. The next, he was shredded. He watched as Lysergic came apart as dozens of high-calibre rounds impacted with him body. Screaming, he ran. Shooters fired at him from inside the helicopter, kicking up spouts of dirt as he ran. Deus ran not to save himself, but because he spotted salvation in a can- an LAW on the ground. Watching the brave young man run, his squad mates began to stand, provide covering fire. He grabbed the tube, wrestling with the body of its owner as he dragged it down into the bloody mud. Ripping it free, he shouldered it. Thinking of Saucerat, he fired. The second chopper exploded, sending several of its occupants plummeting to their deaths.

There was no cheering. There was no victory. There was silence, save the moans of the wounded.

DE wept for his friend. He swore and wept and cursed, his sword still coated in fresh blood.

There would be vengeance for this. He promised.




Wow...I stayed up late doign this. Hope ya'll appreciate it. Know how to do that? Reply. Comment. Hell, even u2u me as so many of you have. I THRIVE on commentary and encouragement. Aside from that, enjoy. And read TDH's story.

DE

I can almost taste the salty blood on my senses. An amazing battle told with vigour. Well done DE, a first class installment that delivered much more than was promised!

B

Excellent as always, DE. This chapter was an eye-opening burst of carnage, which brought down some of our own. A job well done and a chapter well written.

The set-up was great, this installment was amazing. It's said that "you should leave them wanting more", but Jesus, did you have to take it so literally? DH, you're up. Pick up the ball and run with it. You guys are doing a great job.

Wow, thats great! I'm going to have to work hard if I want my version of the event to be just as good.

Busy out of my mind, barely had time to read this chapter but this weekend, I plan to dedicate some time to writing several chapters that I have already "writen" in my head.

Thanks for the comments, guys. I really appreciate it. I try hard to make this good, and now I know I've succeeded.

Ranger, can't wait to read it.

TDH, your ball Saturday.

Once again, thanks for the support from everyone who commented.

DE

Ah yes, the ball is mine now, DE, so I'll see if I can draw up another scoring drive.