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    I can't believe this. A Locust base, a frigging base no more than five miles away in the hills. How the hell did we not see that? More importantly, how come Traxia wasn't wiped out during the war? A town that close to a Locust base should no longer exist, nevermind remain fully capable of life. I'm impressed that the Locust left this town untouched, but I'm gonna be pissed if there's a battalion of them waiting under that hill waiting to attack. Best part about all this is that I'm going into that base. I really hope that the Locust are dead in there or we're gonna have a situation.
(Private Jace Stratton's opinion on the report about the recently discovered Locust base made by the Traxia police force during a missing person search.)
***
Traxia Army Barracks Briefing Room
16 A.E.
    "A Locust base huh?" Marcus said as he read the briefing and map that was laid out on the table in front of him. Hoffman and Bernie Mataki stood on the other side of the table. Baird and Cole were also leaning over the table along with Jace and Sam. Anya stood back flicking through a few reports.
    "Yep, the police found it while searching a cave up in the hills for the missing people," Bernie said.
    "And they stumbled on an entire base? Just like that?" Baird asked, he snorted and then continued. "Well, for once the Locust were nice, leaving this town alone."
    "But why would there be a base all the way out here?" Sam asked, "There's no major city around here for at least a hundred miles."
    "Well whatever made them set up that base here is because they're either searching for something valuable or dangerous," Baird said.
    "What makes you think that?" Hoffman asked.
    "Because if you were searching for something, or had something to protect, you'd build a base so that you could keep a steady supply of troops to search or protect the area right?"
    "Baird has a point," Marcus said, "No point moving for the Grubs to move their troops here only to pull them out, they'd need something to keep them here for a long period of time. A base or outpost would be perfect for keeping them here long enough to find what they were looking for."
    "Hey hey! Blondie figured something out." Bernie said.
    "That's my Baird for ya," Cole said as he slapped Baird on the back.
    "So we gotta go in there and see if we can find what they were looking for?" Jace asked. Hoffman nodded.
    "Yes, and I know that Delta squad was the best candidate for this assignment."
    "Guess poking around decommissioned COG outposts wasn't enough," Marcus muttered.
    "Alright Delta Squad, gear up and get ready to deploy. Anya, you can go with them."
    "Can I ask why?" Anya said.
    "We need someone to keep track of intel to radio back to Command, Baird's been recording how the Locust live and I want you to relay all that information back to me," Hoffman said, "Plus I think that this is a six person job. You've got enough combat experience to help them out."
    "So when do we deploy?" Marcus asked.
    "Once you've got all your gear and are ready to go," Hoffman said.
KR-59.
5.2 klicks outside Traxia
    Jace sat in the back of the Raven and adjusted his new armor.
    "This is the first time I've worn the full combat armor," he said.
    "Don't worry, you get used to it," Baird said.
    "Long time since I last wore this stuff," Cole added. Marcus grunted and tugged on the sleeve that covered his tattoo. Anya could tell that Marcus was feeling a little troubled about the sleeve covering the tattoo, but then again, Anya was experiencing discomfort with her own armor. She gave the neck collar a tug to stop it from chafing but to no avail.
    "So how long until we get to the base?" Sam asked.
    "About five minutes," the pilot said. Sam looked up from her Lancer towards the cockpit.
    "Carmine?" she asked.
    "You know it," Clayton said.
    "God damn, Carmine's flying us to the LZ," Cole said.
    "Sure am, I got a new position flying Ravens."
    "How that holding up for you?" Jace asked.
    "It's okay, I mainly just fly combat sorties and ferry supplies."
    "Done anything interesting lately?" Anya asked.
    "Well flying you guys to this Locust base tops the riot suppression last week," Carmine said.
    "God I hated that riot, I swear the Stranded caused it," Baird said.
    "I'd hate to say it but I think Baird's right," Sam added, "Last riot wasn't that big and there were no cases of arson afterwards. Even after the war I still can't believe that the Stranded hate us."
    "Right now that doesn't matter, we need to get to this base," Marcus said.
    Everyone stopped talking. For the rest of the ride the Squad's conversations was only about what to expect in terms of surviving Locust and what might be stored in the base. As they neared the LZ Carmine hovered near the ground and dropped the Armadillo APC from the underside before landing several feet away.
    "Okay then, radio back to me once you're done," Carmine said.
    "Alright, thanks Carmine," Anya said as the others jumped off the Raven.
    "Later Carmine," Sam said, "Thanks for the flight."
    "Thanks for making me not puke," Cole added.
    "Thanks for not barfing in the back," Carmine said with a small chuckle. Marcus opened up the 'Dill and motioned the squad inside.
    "Come on Delta, form up."
    Delta Squad boarded the 'Dill as Carmine took off and flew away, the radio came on and Carmine's voice rang out.
    "One more thing sergeant, you might like who we've put in the Bot Tube."
    "No way," Baird said as he took his place at the driver's wheel, "They gave us Jack."
    "Seriously? It's Jack?" Anya asked.
    "Sure as shit is," Baird said.
    "Holy hell this is awesome," Cole said joyfully.
    "Look I know that it's nice to have our bot back but can we get on with the mission?" Marcus asked, sounding irritated.
    "Sure thing Sarge," Jace said as he took position on the gun. Baird leaned closer to Cole.
    "Who the hell pissed on his campfire?" he whispered.
    "I don't know, Baird," Cole replied, "Best we keep quiet."
    A half hour passed before Sam spotted the entrance to the cave in the hill and the entrance to the Locust base. Delta geared up, loaded magazines into their weapons and braced themselves for an ambush, Baird slowly drove the 'Dill into the mouth of the cave and kept his foot pressed on the accelerator in case of said ambush happened. For the most part nothing happened but Marcus kept everyone alert in case there was an attack, shortly afterwards Jace spotted something up ahead in front of them. Marcus walked over to him and looked in the gun scope.
    "What am I looking for?" he asked.
    "Just ahead, on the ground."
    Marcus was just able to see something lying on the ground.
    "What the hell is that?"
    "I think it's a dead Locust," Jace said. Marcus focused the gun sights and was able to clearly see a Locust Drone lying in front of the APC, and Jace was right, it was dead.
    "What the hell?" Marcus grunted.
    "Should we take a look?" Anya asked.
    "We might as well, seeing that none of his buddies are around," Baird said. Marcus shifted into his commanding mode.
    "Alright Delta, form up. Cole, Baird, Anya; We're gonna take Jack and see what killed that Locust. Jace and Sam; you stay here as backup in case we need it."
    "Sure thing," Sam said.
    "Aww, why do I gotta stay behind?" Jace asked.
    "Jace. Don't think it of being left behind, think of it as an honorary role to provide backup to Delta Squad," Cole said.
    "That doesn't help at all."
    "Just stay here," Marcus said, a little harder this time to shut Jace up. It worked because Jace went back inside the 'Dill and shut the front hatch. He then pointed his Lancer to the corpse. "Move out Delta."
    Jack popped out from the top of the APC and floated down in front of Marcus and Anya. The comms screen from under Jack opened up and span around before stopping showing Bernie Mataki on the other side of the screen.
    "Hey guys, how's it going?" she asked.
    "We found a Locust body about half a klick into the cave, we're gonna check it out," Marcus said.
    "How are you liking the new position Commander Mataki?" Anya asked.
    "It's okay," Bernie said, "A little bit boring but you guys are making so much more interesting."
    "Aww, thanks Boomer Lady," Cole said. Bernie allowed herself a small chuckle.
    "No problem Cole, hey, take care of Blondie would you?"
    Baird snorted.
    "I can handle myself Granny."
    "Sure you can," Bernie taunted, "Okay Delta, radio back when you find something worth telling me about. Comms are limited and we don't need any unnecessary traffic."
    "Sure thing," Marcus said, "Delta out."
    "Good luck Marcus, Command out."
    Jack's screen clicked back into place and the bot's light flickered on. Jack shone his light around the massive cave. Marcus was strongly reminded of the time he and his squad infiltrated Mt. Kadar in the Centaur. The cave was just as big as the cave in the mountain but with less snow, and as Jack's light swept across the ground, more dead Locust.
    "Ughhhh, shit." Baird said, "And I thought one rotting body was bad enough. This isn't bearable."
    "Ugh, now I know why I didn't chuck on the Raven," Cole said, "I was saving it for...for thi-"
    Cole didn't have time to finish, he dropped his Lancer, hunched over and vomited just a few inches away from the weapon. Baird cringed and pulled the gun closer to him with his boot.
    "Oh God. Cole, don't get it on the Lancer. Cleaning this of blood and Locust guts was hard enough I don't wanna scrape your lunch off as well."
    "Sorry Baird, it's just-oh shit that smell."
    "Yeah yeah. Just try not to fucking barf again okay?"
    Cole wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand and took his gun from Baird. He gave him a nod of thanks and then jogged to catch up with Marcus and Anya. Once the four regrouped they then started to look through the bodies for any identifiable cause of death. Baird on the other hand was taking the Locust weapons and ammo and piling it up.
    "What the hell are you doing?" Cole asked.
    "Just getting some more firepower," Baird replied as he tossed a pair of Hammerbursts into the pile. Marcus payed no attention to Baird's scavenging.
    "I don't know what killed these grubs, might've been my dad's weapon that killed them."
    "Could be," Anya said.
    "Hey, everything okay there?" Jace's voice came over the radio, "We heard something really disgusting. Were you gutting Locust?"
    "Well it's got something to do with guts," Baird said.
    "Sorry Jace, that was me," Cole said as he spat out some saliva.
    "You kill something?" Jace asked.
    "You don't sound so good," Sam said.
    "You're damn lucky you're in that 'Dill, it fucking stinks out here."
    "There's more than one body," Anya said.
    "How many?" Sam asked. Marcus stepped over a Boomer and kicked it's head aside which broke open and spilled out a liquid brain.
    "About twenty or thirty, can't tell."
    "Holy shit!" Baird yelled, "Guys! Take a look at this!"
    The squad rushed over to Baird and found him standing next to a dead Brumak, it was half rotted but most of it's weapons were intact. Cole covered his face and tried to stop gagging. Marcus prodded the creature with the barrel of his Lancer and watched as a piece of flesh the size of him slide off and reveal dissolved muscle and bone.
    "Damn, a whole Brumak."
    "Or at least most of one," Baird said.
    "What would warrant the Locust keeping a Brumak here?" Anya asked.
    "Same reason for keeping Corpsers and Reavers here too," Cole said as he pointed to said bodies littering something that looked like a holding pen.
    "Hmm, seems suspicious," Marcus said.
    "They probably had a whole army here," Baird said, "What were they doing that needed so many grubs?"
    "Nothin' good," Marcus muttered as he pressed his finger to his radio, "Command, we've stumbled across the remains of an entire Locust army, not just a small force."
    "Understood Marcus," Bernie said, "What's there?"
    "Well Granny, you won't believe me but we've got a whole fucking Brumak and some Corpsers here along with a few Reavers and, oh yeah, about a hundred Drones and Boomers."
    "What?" was all Bernie managed to say.
    "Baird ain't lyin' Boomer Lady," Cole said, "Smells so bad in here I puked up."
    "Eurgh, well, at least they're dead."
    "Still doesn't answer what they were all doing here," Marcus said.
    "Should we continue down here?" Anya asked as she pointed over towards what looked like a massive set of doors. The doors were about twice the size of a Brumak and three times as wide, Marcus changed the frequency on the radio and hailed Jace and Sam to link up with them at the door. Once the APC rolled up Cole darted to it and opened up the hatch and ran inside. Baird followed but he took out a small marker and placed it on the weapon pile before opening comms with Mataki.
    "Hey Granny, I found some nice toys for us."
    "Good boy Baird," Bernie said.
    "Just get to them before the Stranded do."
    Marcus stuck his head out of the 'Dill.
    "Hey Baird, come on. We're gonna go check out what's behind those doors."
    "Good thing they're half open otherwise we'd have a helluva job getting them open," Baird said as he jogged up to the APC and clambered inside. He had several weapons and some ammo in his arms and he dumped it on an open seat before setting the weapons down and started to check them for rust and damage.
    "I'm not getting out anymore," Cole said, "Not until we're clear of the bodies."
    "But you're sure as hell getting out if you're gonna chuck again," Jace said, now taking the wheel.
    "Just drive smoothly."
    "Move out Delta," Marcus said.
    The 'Dill rolled through the doors and came into an open room. Jace stopped the 'Dill so suddenly that all the weapons and ammo was thrown throughout the inside of the APC.
    "Jace, what the fuck?" Baird shouted as he picked himself up along with the weapons.
    "Sorry, it's just."
    "What, is that?" Sam asked as she looked through the gun scope. Marcus was wondering what they had seen.
    "Open the hatch," he ordered.
    "What? You don't know what out's there," Cole said.
    "I don't care, we're taking a look."
    The hatch opened up and Marcus stepped out followed by Anya and Cole. Baird stayed back with Jace, holding a Gnasher shotgun at his hip.
    "What's out there?" he called.
    "Baird," Cole said, "You might want to see this."
    Baird and Jace slowly exited the 'Dill, Jace grabbed a Longshot and aimed over Baird's shoulder but dropped it when he looked up. Above them in a very large, four sided room was a massive shimmering wall the same color as imulsion, but upon looking around the rest of the wall it seemed that the strange surface covered almost ninety percent of the back wall. Marcus looked around and saw a variety of Locust turrets and defences, a mix of Savage Lancer Turrets and ordinary Troikas along with sandbags and sniper towers, but what Marcus found strange was that the Locust defences were facing towards the imulsion wall.
    "What the hell were they waiting for?" he muttered.

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    I can't believe this. A Locust base, a frigging base no more than five miles away in the hills. How the hell did we not see that? More importantly, how come Traxia wasn't wiped out during the war? A town that close to a Locust base should no longer exist, nevermind remain fully capable of life. I'm impressed that the Locust left this town untouched, but I'm gonna be pissed if there's a battalion of them waiting under that hill waiting to attack. Best part about all this is that I'm going into that base. I really hope that the Locust are dead in there or we're gonna have a situation.
(Private Jace Stratton's opinion on the report about the recently discovered Locust base made by the Traxia police force during a missing person search.)
***
Traxia Army Barracks Briefing Room
16 A.E.
    "A Locust base huh?" Marcus said as he read the briefing and map that was laid out on the table in front of him. Hoffman and Bernie Mataki stood on the other side of the table. Baird and Cole were also leaning over the table along with Jace and Sam. Anya stood back flicking through a few reports.
    "Yep, the police found it while searching a cave up in the hills for the missing people," Bernie said.
    "And they stumbled on an entire base? Just like that?" Baird asked, he snorted and then continued. "Well, for once the Locust were nice, leaving this town alone."
    "But why would there be a base all the way out here?" Sam asked, "There's no major city around here for at least a hundred miles."
    "Well whatever made them set up that base here is because they're either searching for something valuable or dangerous," Baird said.
    "What makes you think that?" Hoffman asked.
    "Because if you were searching for something, or had something to protect, you'd build a base so that you could keep a steady supply of troops to search or protect the area right?"
    "Baird has a point," Marcus said, "No point moving for the Grubs to move their troops here only to pull them out, they'd need something to keep them here for a long period of time. A base or outpost would be perfect for keeping them here long enough to find what they were looking for."
    "Hey hey! Blondie figured something out." Bernie said.
    "That's my Baird for ya," Cole said as he slapped Baird on the back.
    "So we gotta go in there and see if we can find what they were looking for?" Jace asked. Hoffman nodded.
    "Yes, and I know that Delta squad was the best candidate for this assignment."
    "Guess poking around decommissioned COG outposts wasn't enough," Marcus muttered.
    "Alright Delta Squad, gear up and get ready to deploy. Anya, you can go with them."
    "Can I ask why?" Anya said.
    "We need someone to keep track of intel to radio back to Command, Baird's been recording how the Locust live and I want you to relay all that information back to me," Hoffman said, "Plus I think that this is a six person job. You've got enough combat experience to help them out."
    "So when do we deploy?" Marcus asked.
    "Once you've got all your gear and are ready to go," Hoffman said.
KR-59.
5.2 klicks outside Traxia
    Jace sat in the back of the Raven and adjusted his new armor.
    "This is the first time I've worn the full combat armor," he said.
    "Don't worry, you get used to it," Baird said.
    "Long time since I last wore this stuff," Cole added. Marcus grunted and tugged on the sleeve that covered his tattoo. Anya could tell that Marcus was feeling a little troubled about the sleeve covering the tattoo, but then again, Anya was experiencing discomfort with her own armor. She gave the neck collar a tug to stop it from chafing but to no avail.
    "So how long until we get to the base?" Sam asked.
    "About five minutes," the pilot said. Sam looked up from her Lancer towards the cockpit.
    "Carmine?" she asked.
    "You know it," Clayton said.
    "God damn, Carmine's flying us to the LZ," Cole said.
    "Sure am, I got a new position flying Ravens."
    "How that holding up for you?" Jace asked.
    "It's okay, I mainly just fly combat sorties and ferry supplies."
    "Done anything interesting lately?" Anya asked.
    "Well flying you guys to this Locust base tops the riot suppression last week," Carmine said.
    "God I hated that riot, I swear the Stranded caused it," Baird said.
    "I'd hate to say it but I think Baird's right," Sam added, "Last riot wasn't that big and there were no cases of arson afterwards. Even after the war I still can't believe that the Stranded hate us."
    "Right now that doesn't matter, we need to get to this base," Marcus said.
    Everyone stopped talking. For the rest of the ride the Squad's conversations was only about what to expect in terms of surviving Locust and what might be stored in the base. As they neared the LZ Carmine hovered near the ground and dropped the Armadillo APC from the underside before landing several feet away.
    "Okay then, radio back to me once you're done," Carmine said.
    "Alright, thanks Carmine," Anya said as the others jumped off the Raven.
    "Later Carmine," Sam said, "Thanks for the flight."
    "Thanks for making me not puke," Cole added.
    "Thanks for not barfing in the back," Carmine said with a small chuckle. Marcus opened up the 'Dill and motioned the squad inside.
    "Come on Delta, form up."
    Delta Squad boarded the 'Dill as Carmine took off and flew away, the radio came on and Carmine's voice rang out.
    "One more thing sergeant, you might like who we've put in the Bot Tube."
    "No way," Baird said as he took his place at the driver's wheel, "They gave us Jack."
    "Seriously? It's Jack?" Anya asked.
    "Sure as shit is," Baird said.
    "Holy hell this is awesome," Cole said joyfully.
    "Look I know that it's nice to have our bot back but can we get on with the mission?" Marcus asked, sounding irritated.
    "Sure thing Sarge," Jace said as he took position on the gun. Baird leaned closer to Cole.
    "Who the hell pissed on his campfire?" he whispered.
    "I don't know, Baird," Cole replied, "Best we keep quiet."
    A half hour passed before Sam spotted the entrance to the cave in the hill and the entrance to the Locust base. Delta geared up, loaded magazines into their weapons and braced themselves for an ambush, Baird slowly drove the 'Dill into the mouth of the cave and kept his foot pressed on the accelerator in case of said ambush happened. For the most part nothing happened but Marcus kept everyone alert in case there was an attack, shortly afterwards Jace spotted something up ahead in front of them. Marcus walked over to him and looked in the gun scope.
    "What am I looking for?" he asked.
    "Just ahead, on the ground."
    Marcus was just able to see something lying on the ground.
    "What the hell is that?"
    "I think it's a dead Locust," Jace said. Marcus focused the gun sights and was able to clearly see a Locust Drone lying in front of the APC, and Jace was right, it was dead.
    "What the hell?" Marcus grunted.
    "Should we take a look?" Anya asked.
    "We might as well, seeing that none of his buddies are around," Baird said. Marcus shifted into his commanding mode.
    "Alright Delta, form up. Cole, Baird, Anya; We're gonna take Jack and see what killed that Locust. Jace and Sam; you stay here as backup in case we need it."
    "Sure thing," Sam said.
    "Aww, why do I gotta stay behind?" Jace asked.
    "Jace. Don't think it of being left behind, think of it as an honorary role to provide backup to Delta Squad," Cole said.
    "That doesn't help at all."
    "Just stay here," Marcus said, a little harder this time to shut Jace up. It worked because Jace went back inside the 'Dill and shut the front hatch. He then pointed his Lancer to the corpse. "Move out Delta."
    Jack popped out from the top of the APC and floated down in front of Marcus and Anya. The comms screen from under Jack opened up and span around before stopping showing Bernie Mataki on the other side of the screen.
    "Hey guys, how's it going?" she asked.
    "We found a Locust body about half a klick into the cave, we're gonna check it out," Marcus said.
    "How are you liking the new position Commander Mataki?" Anya asked.
    "It's okay," Bernie said, "A little bit boring but you guys are making so much more interesting."
    "Aww, thanks Boomer Lady," Cole said. Bernie allowed herself a small chuckle.
    "No problem Cole, hey, take care of Blondie would you?"
    Baird snorted.
    "I can handle myself Granny."
    "Sure you can," Bernie taunted, "Okay Delta, radio back when you find something worth telling me about. Comms are limited and we don't need any unnecessary traffic."
    "Sure thing," Marcus said, "Delta out."
    "Good luck Marcus, Command out."
    Jack's screen clicked back into place and the bot's light flickered on. Jack shone his light around the massive cave. Marcus was strongly reminded of the time he and his squad infiltrated Mt. Kadar in the Centaur. The cave was just as big as the cave in the mountain but with less snow, and as Jack's light swept across the ground, more dead Locust.
    "Ughhhh, shit." Baird said, "And I thought one rotting body was bad enough. This isn't bearable."
    "Ugh, now I know why I didn't chuck on the Raven," Cole said, "I was saving it for...for thi-"
    Cole didn't have time to finish, he dropped his Lancer, hunched over and vomited just a few inches away from the weapon. Baird cringed and pulled the gun closer to him with his boot.
    "Oh God. Cole, don't get it on the Lancer. Cleaning this of blood and Locust guts was hard enough I don't wanna scrape your lunch off as well."
    "Sorry Baird, it's just-oh shit that smell."
    "Yeah yeah. Just try not to fucking barf again okay?"
    Cole wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand and took his gun from Baird. He gave him a nod of thanks and then jogged to catch up with Marcus and Anya. Once the four regrouped they then started to look through the bodies for any identifiable cause of death. Baird on the other hand was taking the Locust weapons and ammo and piling it up.
    "What the hell are you doing?" Cole asked.
    "Just getting some more firepower," Baird replied as he tossed a pair of Hammerbursts into the pile. Marcus payed no attention to Baird's scavenging.
    "I don't know what killed these grubs, might've been my dad's weapon that killed them."
    "Could be," Anya said.
    "Hey, everything okay there?" Jace's voice came over the radio, "We heard something really disgusting. Were you gutting Locust?"
    "Well it's got something to do with guts," Baird said.
    "Sorry Jace, that was me," Cole said as he spat out some saliva.
    "You kill something?" Jace asked.
    "You don't sound so good," Sam said.
    "You're damn lucky you're in that 'Dill, it fucking stinks out here."
    "There's more than one body," Anya said.
    "How many?" Sam asked. Marcus stepped over a Boomer and kicked it's head aside which broke open and spilled out a liquid brain.
    "About twenty or thirty, can't tell."
    "Holy shit!" Baird yelled, "Guys! Take a look at this!"
    The squad rushed over to Baird and found him standing next to a dead Brumak, it was half rotted but most of it's weapons were intact. Cole covered his face and tried to stop gagging. Marcus prodded the creature with the barrel of his Lancer and watched as a piece of flesh the size of him slide off and reveal dissolved muscle and bone.
    "Damn, a whole Brumak."
    "Or at least most of one," Baird said.
    "What would warrant the Locust keeping a Brumak here?" Anya asked.
    "Same reason for keeping Corpsers and Reavers here too," Cole said as he pointed to said bodies littering something that looked like a holding pen.
    "Hmm, seems suspicious," Marcus said.
    "They probably had a whole army here," Baird said, "What were they doing that needed so many grubs?"
    "Nothin' good," Marcus muttered as he pressed his finger to his radio, "Command, we've stumbled across the remains of an entire Locust army, not just a small force."
    "Understood Marcus," Bernie said, "What's there?"
    "Well Granny, you won't believe me but we've got a whole fucking Brumak and some Corpsers here along with a few Reavers and, oh yeah, about a hundred Drones and Boomers."
    "What?" was all Bernie managed to say.
    "Baird ain't lyin' Boomer Lady," Cole said, "Smells so bad in here I puked up."
    "Eurgh, well, at least they're dead."
    "Still doesn't answer what they were all doing here," Marcus said.
    "Should we continue down here?" Anya asked as she pointed over towards what looked like a massive set of doors. The doors were about twice the size of a Brumak and three times as wide, Marcus changed the frequency on the radio and hailed Jace and Sam to link up with them at the door. Once the APC rolled up Cole darted to it and opened up the hatch and ran inside. Baird followed but he took out a small marker and placed it on the weapon pile before opening comms with Mataki.
    "Hey Granny, I found some nice toys for us."
    "Good boy Baird," Bernie said.
    "Just get to them before the Stranded do."
    Marcus stuck his head out of the 'Dill.
    "Hey Baird, come on. We're gonna go check out what's behind those doors."
    "Good thing they're half open otherwise we'd have a helluva job getting them open," Baird said as he jogged up to the APC and clambered inside. He had several weapons and some ammo in his arms and he dumped it on an open seat before setting the weapons down and started to check them for rust and damage.
    "I'm not getting out anymore," Cole said, "Not until we're clear of the bodies."
    "But you're sure as hell getting out if you're gonna chuck again," Jace said, now taking the wheel.
    "Just drive smoothly."
    "Move out Delta," Marcus said.
    The 'Dill rolled through the doors and came into an open room. Jace stopped the 'Dill so suddenly that all the weapons and ammo was thrown throughout the inside of the APC.
    "Jace, what the fuck?" Baird shouted as he picked himself up along with the weapons.
    "Sorry, it's just."
    "What, is that?" Sam asked as she looked through the gun scope. Marcus was wondering what they had seen.
    "Open the hatch," he ordered.
    "What? You don't know what out's there," Cole said.
    "I don't care, we're taking a look."
    The hatch opened up and Marcus stepped out followed by Anya and Cole. Baird stayed back with Jace, holding a Gnasher shotgun at his hip.
    "What's out there?" he called.
    "Baird," Cole said, "You might want to see this."
    Baird and Jace slowly exited the 'Dill, Jace grabbed a Longshot and aimed over Baird's shoulder but dropped it when he looked up. Above them in a very large, four sided room was a massive shimmering wall the same color as imulsion, but upon looking around the rest of the wall it seemed that the strange surface covered almost ninety percent of the back wall. Marcus looked around and saw a variety of Locust turrets and defences, a mix of Savage Lancer Turrets and ordinary Troikas along with sandbags and sniper towers, but what Marcus found strange was that the Locust defences were facing towards the imulsion wall.
    "What the hell were they waiting for?" he muttered.