Chapter Sixteen: The Factory

March 13th, 2027, 12:45 a.m.
Factory Path, Altai Mountain Range, Russia

Katia looked at the helicopter above her, as it flew away and became invisible, leaving them to about a mile long hike to the factory. Even though she wore tactical armour with internal heating, on top of the fur she already had, she could feel the frigid cold on the snowy trail. They had been given this armour as well as submachine guns, for extra protection, they messed up once this time, they’d practically be dead. This meant there was absolutely no room for error, no second chance, nobody would be able to save her ass this time.

They trudged through the ankle deep snow, looking at the steep climb ahead. They were about fourteen thousand feet in the air. The factory was said to be located somewhere on the east side of the mountains, near the peaks. The path wrapped around the snow capped mountains, and a blinding blizzard raged as they walked towards the wind to their destination. They were about half way there, taking a minute to stop, the high altitude making it harder to breath. They had tried to quicken their pace, but the cold air stung inside their lungs, it was almost one forty five, they had fifteen minutes left. The factory was visible from where they stood, about a ten minute walk, getting in was still possible, but the window was extremely tight. They walked on as Katia put her hand to her ear, “Foles, we’re almost to the entrance, how long does the EMP last?” Foles responded over the howl of the wind, “The EMP is going to last as long as it takes to finish the mission, but it will only take about an hour for anyone to notice what’s wrong and track the source. The EMP should be inside Shane’s pack, but the thing is, it’s not really an EMP, it’s like a projector. It projects the interference within a five mile radius, completely closing in the factory, but it’s only strong enough to take out the cameras, as not to draw too much attention to itself.” As she heard this, she motioned for Shane to take out the EMP, as they drew near the road leading to the garage. “Thanks for the information, we’ll get in, place the charges, turn off the power, get out, in one hour, no setbacks.” They turned on the cloaking devices on their suits, inching towards a small hill of snow next to the road, but Foles said one last thing. “Oh and Managan,” he said, “good luck,” “Thank you Sergeant.” Kaita and the others were now invisible to all the factory workers, all they had to do was wait.

It was now two a.m. and they saw the headlights of the truck pulling in from down the hill, it was time to go. They walked slowly behind the truck, their footsteps following nothing in the snow. The garage door was opened by two men in black tactical gear, assault rifles strapped to their backs. Katia steadied her breathing as they passed by, the truck slowly pulling into place in front of them. They had set a one minute timer for when the EMP would go off, giving them time to find cover. When they reached the door leading to one of the hallways, the EMP set off. Though the EMP was only strong enough to take out the factory’s cameras, they’re amour was somewhat affected by it, causing the cloaking devices to be unstable. Once in the hallway the EMP set off, and they made themselves visible yet again, they’d already begun placing charges in the only two rooms they’d been in so far.

Katia looked at the other two that were left on her team, “Alright, we only have one hour,” she whispered, “we get around to the other side of the building, while placing charges on the way, and turn off everything. Then we get the hell out of here before it’s too late, clear?” The others said nothing, just nodded underneath their pitch black helmets, and Shane went up to the next door, peering through the small window at the top. He looked back and held up two fingers, symbolizing how many enemies were there, then began to count down from three. He opened the door while Katia silently took out the first, leaving Amelia to quickly deal with the other, then he placed a charge on the wall next to them. All around them were trucks, loaded with metal ready to be melted into molds, each stationed with two or three guards to search the vehicle's contents. They carefully sneaked along the far left side of the large room, which seemed to be some sort of garage, trying not to be seen or heard. They were passing one truck when they saw a guard jump from the back, almost seeing them. They quickly stuck to the opposite side of the vehicle, but they knew he was coming around. Katia motioned for them to get under, and they did so quickly and quietly. She stared, barely breathing, as the man dipped down to check underneath as well, but he saw nothing, because they were just as dark as any other shadow there. Every truck they passed another charge was placed, but they made sure to leave enough for the assembly line and finalization rooms.

They yet again entered another hallway, giving them another chance to breathe, grasping the weapons on their sides, not daring to make a noise. Katia was first to exit this corridor, she checked all angles, making sure they were clear, and moved on. She looked to her left, almost noticing a guard a split second too late, he was lifting his radio to his mouth. Even though it wasn’t going to work due to the EMP, she threw her knife in fear, hitting him in the throat, making sure no sound came from his lips. The man staggered and fell as Katia went to retrieve her knife, but Shane pulled her back, another guard ran over to where the other now laid. He then began shouting in russian, which Katia understood as; “Someone is here, someone is here! Intruders, intruders!” She cursed under her breath, but Shane reassured her, “Just because they know we’re here, doesn’t mean they know where we are. We’ll just have to be smart, we’re on our own, no coms, but no way for them to set off the alarm.” They just had to continue on, swifter and more silent than before, bringing as little attention to themselves as possible. They then entered the assembly room, which seemed to be completely empty, apart from the massive machines bringing parts back and forth, creating things that would cause mass destruction.

Katia and the others walked forward, but she was tackled, and put into a choke hold against the wall, while gunfire rang across the room. The man holding her was exclaiming in russian, “Aha! I have found you!” while others screamed for their companions to come aid them. Katia grasped the man by the arms, pushing away until she felt his resistance, then used it to headbutt him, threw him to the ground and shot him down with her side arm. She then joined the others behind a large platform, holding a machine’s large metal skeleton, as bullets flew by, putting holes in their surroundings. Alarm or not, they were known, but none of it really mattered anymore, they were already halfway through the building, charges placed, all that was left to do was turn off the main power. This was important because completed machines were being taken toward the south side of the building, being prepared for transportation. Katia turned to see how many were there as Shan fired from his cover on their side of the truck. She counted around ten to fifteen, all with fully automatic rifles, but they’d already taken out a few of them. Katia grasped the submachine gun from her back, it was able to change fire rates and held thirty-five bullets per magazine, she turned firing at two men on a balcony, taking them out in seconds. In the process she had emptied half of her magazine, not used to the insanely fast fire rate, there were only about seven left now. She now realized why Foles had given them these weapons, in case of this exact situation, of course it had been a safety precaution, because he wouldn’t have any contact with them throughout the mission. Katia ran to different cover, taking out two others at the same time emptying her mag and reloading.

Shane stood up, “That’s it for now, but there’s sure as hell going to be more of them. We gotta move, but we know that they can only come from the main rooms near the center of the factory, ‘cause that’s where the armoury is. The only other instances we should run into anyone are those that we’ll meet on the way.” Amelia got up and peered through the door window behind them, “Someone should draw back, hold this area, making sure nobody comes to find us while we’re turning everything off. I’ll do it, but I’m going to need extra ammo,” Katia looked at Shane and gestured for them to give her their spares. They did this, leaving two spares to keep, given what they already had left in the guns themselves should be enough to get through. They pushed through the next door into the snowstorm outside, all they had to do now was reach the control tower. As they went along they silently took out as many men as they could, only firing at large groups, and others when they were noticed, all while placing charges on the walls and throwing them inside rooms. The tower was only a few hundred feet away, the floor underneath them supported by beams sprouting from the snowy mountains below. They moved on, hiding behind a large ammunition box, there were many men guarding the tower, they had saved as much ammo as they could for a reason. They stood at the same time, spraying bullets in the direction of anything that moved, the blizzard was so thick they could hardly see. But they also had thermal vision in their helmet visors, which was extremely useful, and they took out anyone they could see. They ran a perimeter, checking all possible hiding spots for any guards, but found nothing, they’d cleared the area.

They started sneaking up the spiraling staircase that clung to the side of the tower. As they rose they could see the three other towers, making sure to stay low so nobody saw them. They stepped as quietly as they could on the slick metal, trying not to alert whoever was inside that they were coming. They knew that whoever was there heard what had happened, but he couldn’t tell when they arrived at his front door. The stairs ended, and a short bridge with guard rails led to a large metal door with no window. Katia stepped quietly forward, steadying her breath, about to pick the lock, but Shane whispered to her a second before “Katia, wait.” She nearly jumped out of her skin, then heard the thud of a helmet falling to the metal floor. She then turned to see the barrel of a pistol aimed at her head, looking up to see Joshua’s face.