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7th July, 1956

The survivors looked up at the red sky, observing the new shapes in the aether. A cracked and barren planet loomed far above, filling his view. They tore their eyes from it and looked ahead.
It was a cloudy morning, with dust blowing gracefully through long-abandoned buildings and ruins. The cold was becoming worse as the Chimeran climate change took it's toll. To their left was a wall of towers in varying states of disarray. Far in the distance, explosions and gunshots could be heard; common sounds in such a desolate place. A trio of Chimeran battleships hovered yet further away, doubtless heading to some irrelevent battle like thousands others were the side of humanity would be crushed and the enemy's numbers would swell.
Suddenly the silence was interrupted by a cry from the left:
"Stalker!" A volley of machinegun rounds tore in to the speaker, sending blood and limbs flying backwards. At the end of the street, the spider-like construct of a Stalker armoured vehicle stood. Shields blared in to life and a laser sight scouted the area like a pacing eye.
The men instantly reacted. Their weapons blazed, bouncing off the Stalker's shield and draining it's power. Missiles began to fire back, blasting two men off their feet. Dozens of Hybrids began pouring around the corner. All the men ducked for cover and fired as ion blasts flew overhead. Bullseye rounds burst through thin walls and killed the men behind them even as the firers were cut down. A cacophony of explosions and gunfire filled the air.
When the dust cleared, the patrol was gone, replaced by splatters of blood and sprawled corpses. The Chimeran patrol relaxed and headed off in search of more prey.

On the other side of the city, the Resistance base was full of movement as radios buzzed and soldiers hurried around. Sean MacKay was with a group of soldiers heading for a bar on the western edge of the city, where a man named Jacob Wolf claimed he and one other were holding out. Antony Stallone, an ex-mafioso and born survivor, was busy ordering his old mob on missions around the city. Gaz and James, two of the resistances' long-time members, were preparing for a food gathering expedition in the financial district. The leader of the resistance, a mysterious man in his forties known as Jerome, was sitting in his "office" looking at the latest information his men had gathered. Overhead bombs were falling; the entire sewer network was shaking and dust fell from the ceiling. Food shortages and leaks were commoon here as the flooded section of the sewers tried to batter its way in and the hundreds of people there consumed what little edible material could be salvaged. All of them knew that there situation was hopeless; right on the doorstep of a Chimeran tower, in a world controlled by monsters and no aid to call upon from anywhere. Their hopes as of now were not of victory or salvation, or even of escape. It was simply of finding the next meal and avoiding a Chimeran assault. It was simply of survival.

The bar has been inspected by the chimera's over ten times and each time they miss the small trap door underneath the tender's stool. Jacob for some reason on the day of the invasion brought his old uniform in a bag and to his surprise it was a good decision. The crashed helicopter was a blessing since it gave Jake and his friend Derick some ammunition for their M5A2 Folsom Carbine and Rossmore. Derick moved window to window on the bottom floor watching every angle for another patrol. Jake paced back and forth in the upstairs apartment complex that stunk of dead humans and chimera alike. The radio's antennae was bent to hell and could only broadcast in short bursts and couldn't receive very well. The best of times a consonant or vowel was heard and the worst was dead air. The wood was decaying and the basement was flooded. The bar was the only slightly better but it was on the ground and easier for the chimera to check. Jake looked around with a fareye scope long since departed from the actual rifle. The only life he saw were some crawlers that were battling one another for an arm of the last scavenger the resistance sent to this part of the city.

Damp, cold, dirty...all of these things could be used to describe Sean's position right now...the fact that his legs were cramping from the prone spot in the ruins of an old auto garage wasn't helping either. For the past twenty minutes he hadn't moved an inch, the other two men with him, one he knew was above him to his right in the second story of the adjacent apartment building that was half collapsed, and the other that was to his left below him under a collapsed wall, hadn't moved either. To do so meant death...

A patrol had passed earlier...about two squads of Chimeran Hybrids and several drones. One walked right over the wall where James was laying, to the man's credit, he didn't move a muscle, didn't make a sound, and didn't panic. The hybrid leader had put his foot right in front of Sean's face...Sean could hear the bastard sniffing and grunting. He was afraid for a moment they'd been found out but after several tense seconds, the formation moved away done the street and left Sean and his men alone.

Then had come a pack of grims, all groaning, moaning, growling at one another, they hadn't gotten nearly as close but their presence put Sean on edge until they split up and dissipated into the buildings around them. Since then there had been nothing but a few leapers here and there but nothing major. Even so, Sean was getting severely impatient, Ramirez should have been back by now, that was what he had sent the diminutive man out alone for, he was a very skilled stealther and had proven to be invisible to even the highly attuned Chimeran eyes...even so, the man was late, a habit Sean knew he did not usually have. Something was wrong, they had to move.

He began to raise his hand to signal his small group out when a voice below him in the ditch next to the building spoke up and startled him so much he almost shot it...

"You gonna go on without me chief?" the whisper asked. Sean slowly looked down to where it came from wide eyed...he couldn't help but smile.

"Wouldn't think of it...what have you got?"

"Area's thick with em, lot more than usual, I had some trouble getting around unseen but the radio message we got wasn't joking, there's a bar fitting the description a few streets over..."

"I'm sensing a 'but' here..." Sean said flippantly.

The small man with the Fareye rifle nodded in a way that sent ripples through his camouflaged cloak and hood that he wore. "Its surrounded by em sir...not a real way to get in or out without making some noise..."

Sean cursed under his breath...looked like he would be doing this on the fly again...

"Any luck with the radio?" He asked hopefully. Ramirez shook his covered head.

"Nope, between whenever they contacted the cell and now it must have been damaged, haven't gotten anything but static."

"Or they're dead." another voice came from Sean's left...he saw James there sitting crouched behind the ruined remains of a wall...even in causal conversation, the man was competent enough not to let himself be seen.

"Yes...or they're dead...only one way to find out really." Sean admitted and got himself to a crouch, he called up to his other man.

"Hey Dale, we're movin out." He said in a low voice...the big man appeared at the section where the building above was collapsed and hopped down, landing on his feet with a thud.

"And here I thought we were in for some R&R..." He said in good nature.

"Not today I'm afraid, we've got work to do." Sean said as he stood up and brushed grit from his carbine. He looked to Ramirez...

"Lead on." He said simply. Ramirez simply nodded and turned to crouch run across the street. One by one, the others followed in suite and began to travel cautiously through the alleys...

Well wasn't this a successful venture.

sorry i was waiting for everyone else to post. I can make one later tonight

sorry for not posting.

I been busy.

A dropship doing its usual run appeared in the sky trying to find any humans to infect or kill or whatever they do to them once they won the war. Derrick was unaware of the several crawlers that could smell his blood. They attacked creating a source of shrieking but the ship ignored it as the usual crawler would shriek and attack a stray cat that wandered too deep into the city. But Derrick's rossmore blasting the little critters certainly got their attention and with it the large box like container was dropped.
"Dammit Derrick, why didn't you just stomp on them?" Jacob said as he sprinted to a more defensible position. The doors creaked open giving Jacob the chance to do some major damage as he removed the key from the frag and prepared himself. He launched it perfectly into the sly but widening gap of the metallic doors making the chimera inside scream as the realization of their inevitable deaths occurred to them. Derrick rushed out of the bar into the diner on the other side of the street ditching Jake to take them on. "Ungrateful bastard." Jacob spat. He ready M5A2 at the drop pod knowing a single grenade wouldn't stop them all. A Barrage of bullseye fire rained upon his position as the survivors began their assault on the one who so easily killed their comrades. The tags missed and the rounds still only smacked into the charred wallpapered bricks. Then the sound that he feared widened his eyes as a steel head began firing its Auger. The yellow light shown through the walls as the energy slide between the molecules. He hurdle and sprinted down an open hall firing his carbine into the small crowd of yellow eyed monsters. Several of the beasts were inside the bar slowly finding their way up to his level. Pulling out his magnum he fired all six shots into the stair well and ignited the explosive shells to find the burnt to hell stairs gone into a ash fill cloud. One magnum bullet left and Jacob had the perfect target in mind. He walked up to the broken wall he shot to the best of his ability to hit the Steel head to find the shell in its cooling pack. The explosion after wards dealt the death blow as the force of broke its neck. Now Jacob could only wait and pray that someone heard his message and decided to give a gak and save him.

I didn't realize you started a thread, got school in a bit so I will post after school for ya!

The chimera strike force moved through the street The Hybrid in command, designated 'Dave' by the humans sat inside his stalker assault vehicle remaining vigilant. Groups of fifteen hybrids moved through the buildings on either side ready to shred and opposition. A formation of four stalkers moved down the street in a diamond formation with a titan and a squad of Steelheads in the center along with Dave's stalker. Long-legs snipers jumped from rooftop to rooftop on either side of the street scouting out opposition. Two hybrid scouts ran ahead of the armored units ready to alert their brothers to any threat. A human scream came from the left of Dave's stalker. A human ran out a carbine barking in his hands. He came from a coffee shop, long abandoned and neglected since Dave's kind had invaded. The Steelheads immediately turned the human to bloody mist with their augers. A Chimeran alert call drifted down from ahead. A large group of humans had holed up in a hotel and where firing on Dave's scouts. The titan and stalkers stated firing, breaking apart the flimsy building with well placed shots. The humans retreated for a moment, this was their downfall. Dave's Hybrids had poured out into the street.The slavering mob stormed the building.After a small, contained and quite gunfight the inhabitants where dragged out and executed, that was the punishment for being human.

Good intros everybody. Keep 'em coming.

"Anything for the radio?" Sean asked from his spot in the third floor of an old accounting building across and down the street from the bar. The team had moved rapidly and so far had only encountered a pack of leapers that they had dispatched swiftly.

Ramirez just shook his head and stowed the radio phone while Sean cursed quietly. Sean sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand.

"Perimeter?" He asked.

"Clear in my sector." Dale said in his usual thick tone.

"Good here." James replied as he readjusted the strap on the wraith he carried on his back. Sean readied his carbine.

"Lets move, down the street." He said and the four moved back down the ruins and into the street.

Half destroyed cars were everywhere, power poles littered the street and derelict buildings leaned to the sides as if sagging in the throes of the city's death. Sean looked around at him, the depression of what had become to the city...and the nation, never ceased to get to him. It was times like this when he wondered, really wondered, if they would survive or not. Not just his own team...but the rest of human kind.

His musing was stopped by the sound of jet engines overhead. He stopped his team and they all quickly got into cover at the side of the street. Ramirez almost disappeared completely from Sean's sight, the man had a natural knack for laying low. A dropship whizzed overhead down the street, Sean craned his ears to hear some gunshots come from the bar, he cursed quietly as the dropship turned around and dropped its load. Sean knew they had to move if whoever was in the bar was going to live through the next few minutes.

"Ramirez, find a nest and give me and Dale cover, James, cover Ramirez, Dale, with me, ready that flamethrower." Sean ordered quickly, the four men split into two teams.

Sean and Dale moved up quickly to the bar and took cover behind the wall of a building with an alley. Sean watched as a grenade sailed out of the bar's window and into the dropship. Whoever was in there, they were pretty good. Regardless, the chimera spilled out, roaring defiance and Sean saw a sight that chilled his blood, a Steel head charging up with his auger but Sean smiled when he saw a magnum bullet hit its cooling tank and explode violently, sending the body tumbling backwards. The rest of the living chimera hybrids charged into the building.

"That's our que." Sean breathed over his shoulder to dale who was readying the dragon with a lopsided grin and nodded. "Take point big guy." Sean ordered and Dale nodded.

"Never thought you'd ask chief." He said in a sing song voice and ran around the corner towards the building.

-------------

Inside, Jacob waited for a miracle, the hybrids were in the building and searching for him, he only had a few moments at best. A hybrid came right at his hiding spot and roared as it aimed its bullseye, Jacob held his breath as braced himself for the flurry of shots.

None came...

Instead one single loud crack echoed from outside and Jacob looked up to see the Hybrid's head practically blown off by something. Jacob watched in fascination as the creature toppled over and the other Hybrids turned towards the threat. Suddenly, a broom of fire spat into the building, its blue flames swept left and right in a horrid tongue pf heat and soaked all of the Hybrids in the room who roared in pain and fury, dropping to their knees and writhing with the pain of the heat. flesh was seared from bone and skin melted into puddles around their feet. The creatures eventually became quiet as the flames ate up the room and Jacob watched as two men entered. The one in the flight jacket coughed on the smoke while the much larger man took a deep, contended breath.

"Love that smell in the morning." The larger man said happily.

"What? Napalm?" Sean asked between coughs, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Nope, burning Chimera." The big man laughed. Sean ignored him and began looking around the building.

"Anyone here? We got your call we're here to help." Sean announced to the empty bar. Jacob slowly got up from his spot and was the sudden focus of both men's guns. Jacob put his hands up.

"Don't shoot." He said without fear. the two men immediately lowered their weapons.

"Got anyone with you?" The man in the flight jacket asked. Jacob shook his head.

"He ran into the diner over there, dunno where he is now."

The man in the flight jacket was about to speak when they all heard some snarling voices followed by gunshots outside.

"He'll have to fend for himself for now, we have to move, rest of my team's down the street, we'll meet with them and get back to the sewers." The man said. "Name's Sean, this is Dale. Lets go." The man said as he moved out the doors.

"I dont have any ammo." Jacob replied as they moved out of the building.

"Dale." Sean said as they moved down the street. Dale took off a duffel bag he had across his back and unzipped it to reveal a small stash of ammunition.

"Grab some and lets go, our buds are in trouble."

A minute later the three had gotten down the street where a hybrid squad was having a duel with Ramirez and James.

"Whats the plan?" Jacob asked. It was then that he noticed the golden shimmer in Sean's eye and that put him off more than anything else about his would be saviors...Sean placed a 40mm grenade in his rifle's tube and smirked at Jacob.

"Follow my lead." He said as he rose and shot the grenade, it killed three outright and wounded a fourth who was sent sprawling by the shockwave. A shot from Dale's bellock burned another two and Ramirez finished the last blindsided Chimera who was desperately seeking cover with a well placed shot from above. Slowly, Sean's group and Ramirez and James met back up. Sean saw the last hybrid trying to crawl towards its bullseye, Sean kicked it away from the beast's grasp, it snarled at him and futilely tried to get up but it was bleeding from multiple wounds and its cooling pipes had been disconnected by shrapnel. Sean scowled as he pulled out his magnum and aimed it at the Chimera's snarling head, he pulled the trigger and slipped the magnum back in his holster.

"So, who are you guys?" Jacob asked. "By the way my name's Jacob."

Sean shrugged. "Just some guys trying to survive like you."

"Hey, lets take this conversation to the sewers." James said looking down the street.

"Whats the rush?" James said, reloading his weapon. James began getting out the wraith and pointed down the street at the slowly growing mass of grims headed towards them. Sean looked at it with a mounting sense of fear.

"That's the rush." James said as the wraith whirred up and spat lead at a high rate, cutting down the front ranks of grims.

"Lets go!" Sean yelled and ran down the street with the rest of the team, James fell in last after one spurt of fire and all five ran down the street as the horde chased after them, screaming and sprinting to catch their prey.