>>5292333Your first and only priority at this stage is survival.
To that end, you spend the little downtime you’ve got seeking to recover the machine-guns mounted on the freshly depopulated technicals.
Thankfully, both MGs are totally intact, minus some inconsequential cosmetic damage.
As befitting the nature of their previous owners, they’re Cold War relics. Haven’t seen one of these babies since a particularly eventful firefight.
Look to be a pair of Eastern Bloc Dushkas, they’re temperamental and unwieldy sons of bitches but they pack a nasty punch.
Good thing Shade managed to nail the gunners before they could cause any real damage.
The Dushkas are far too heavy to move one up to Shade’s position, so you instead re-position them at opposite points along the canyon wall. That way, you can still maintain a heavy base of fire and potentially flank anyone that punches through the rubble.
Right as you finish getting the second Dushka loaded and ready for action, Shade calls out another warning.
“I’ve got half a dozen Humvees, rolling in hot!”
> “Damn it. Is it an American patrol?”“Nah, they look more like the fuckers that’ve been hounding us since Qurac. Looking forward to planting more of these bastards?”
> “You know it. They’ll never know what hit em.”As soon as they’re in range, Shade begins plinking away at anyone he can get a clear shot at and manages to nail the machine-gunner on a couple Humvees before being driven into cover by a fusillade of retaliation fire.
You post up on the nearest Dushka and watch the canyon entrance like a hawk. Time to show these clowns what a real fatal funnel looks like.
The Humvees try to carefully navigate their way through the rubble, but you absolutely shred them with the entrenched Dushka.
One of the Humvees stalls out from engine damage, and another two slam into each other after you nail one of the drivers.
After raking the exposed vehicles with a scathing amount of fire, you’re forced to fall back or risk being overwhelmed.
So far, everything is going about as well as you’d hoped. Judging from the number of holes you punched in their Humvees, at least half of their force has to be pushing up daises.
They’ve only got three Humvees left, one of which is lacking a gunner.
If you and Shade play this right, it should be easy enough to pick the stragglers off once they disperse to start hunting for you.
Suddenly, there’s a massive burst of static through your earpiece, causing you to wince.
Any lingering doubts that these bastards are from Cadmus is instantly dispelled. This looks, feels, and sounds exactly like their jamming tech.
And their motivation for jamming your comms quickly makes itself known.
