Out in front of the Citizen's Escape building, designated Alpha Base, the guards relaxed, confident that keeping the immediate area secure would be the easy job.
The soldiers milled around both inside and out. From what it had sounded like, most of the enemy forces capable of fighting were at the objective, miles away. There was nothing to do at Alpha Base except relax and make sure the technical officers set everything up.
With the floodlights in place, they still couldn't see much further than the fountain, even with the pale lamps shining in the street. One of them squinted, thinking he saw something moving around a distance away. He took a few steps out, peering.
The bullet passed at a downward angle above the right side of his brow, exiting out the back of his neck. He died instantly, falling to the ground as the echoing crack of a rifle report filled the air. The other seven men jumped to attention when they heard the sound and saw their falling man; they began shouting and frantically looking around. Three more of them fell to fatal head injuries. One of the men started screaming as he tried to run for cover, cut-off abruptly by the next shot. The remaining few fell within moments, their twitching bodies joining the other dead men just outside the building.
Through his binoculars, Rick could see a flurry of action within the Escape as several men ran to investigate the screams and gunshots. A couple of soldiers foolish enough to move by windows fell just as quickly. Soon, it appeared no one inside was willing to try any further. He gave a quick hand motion.
The heavy weapons team sprinted forward to the fountain, throwing the bipod open and mounting the machine gun. They pulled the string of rounds out of the underside ammunition box, feeding it into the weapon.
Roaring to life, the machine gun pounded dozens of rounds into the building and filled the air with the deafening chatter. Huge divots chipped into the wall and shattered already-broken windows.
The man holding the grenade launcher crossed half the distance to the Escape, and with a light plunk, he sent a 40mm high explosive grenade directly into the Escape. A deafening explosion reported along with the sounds of screaming men and a billow of smoke.
Rick and the rest sprinted forward. Under the cover of the suppressive fire of the machine gun, they took up positions along either side of the entrance. He held up his hand and made a quick gesture; the firing ceased. Another hand motion, and they moved, pouring in on either side of the entrance.
Several soldiers were already on the ground, bleeding heavily from shrapnel wounds and moaning in pain. Other soldiers were starting to pick themselves up, and several technicians, those who were still alive and conscious, whimpered and cowered on the ground. Rick fired his sidearm. Well-placed shots sent lethal rounds into enemy soldiers, who, too disoriented or wounded, didn't fire back.
The rest of his men cut through the room with surgical precision, cleaning up all of the remaining soldiers inside. Unconscious and cowering men alike, all were dispatched in short order, save for a couple of surviving technicians who were spared. When the area was secure, Rick holstered his weapon and addressed the prisoners.
"Listen up!" he barked, causing them to jump. "You've been left alive for one simple reason! You are to use those nice, little radios of yours to relay whatever information we tell you!" He pulled his weapon again and placed the barrel at one man's forehead. The others gasped, and the man went pale, swallowing hard. "If you refuse, if you hesitate, if you try to be clever and tip them off, if you do anything even the slightest bit suspicious… these fine men will kill you without a second thought." He reholstered the weapon, motioning towards the few people he planned to leave behind as guards. "If you behave, I promise no harm will come to you by any of us, ever. Understand?"
Shakily, each one of the techs nodded before being directed to gather up the still-working radio equipment; a lot was damaged beyond repair. The techs gathered up the functioning gear and were quickly herded out to a nearby location.
A few of Rick's people gathered the bodies and moved them out behind the building, just inside the Escape compound. Rick checked his watch, apprehensive, as a few other men cleaned up the room and unloaded some of their own equipment for the others to use. He had a surprise in mind, in case any groups of soldiers came running back this way. Once ready, his force took off again.
One objective taken care of, Rick thought as his people filed down the narrow street. It'll help later on, but only if we manage to drive the bastards out.