[center][color=darkred][b][h2]AMBUSH:BLOODBURN[/h2][/b][/color][hr][color=slategray]Collab between [@Sigma], [@Timemaster] and [@SgtEasy][/color][/center][hr]The One was split between multiple theaters of war in New Beijing. While the city was initially fully under White Flower control, at least on the surface, new enemies appearing meant that the frontline would have to move back. In a place where the One prevailed more than anywhere else. 

Urban combat was their bread and butter. Spending a few centuries in a city does that to people. The new enemies were [i] weird [/i] but not unexpected by the One. They’ve seen the info-alerts sent by the White Flower sympathizers from the Meeting Place. Monkeys. Stronger than a man and smart as one. A tough enemy to fight in hand to hand combat which meant that the One had to resort to what they did best, guerrilla warfare. 

Ambushes, artisanal explosives, traps and whatnot littered the streets of New Beijing. Only the most trusted of White Flower leaders were given maps to where the traps were laid or ambushes placed. Not that the One was too keen to rely on the White Flower revolutionaries to fight the war. 

The streets were watched closely, a William stood on the roof top of a building and suddenly made a hand signal to the others in hiding. A convoy will pass through the intersection, most certainly trying to push the frontline a bit more towards HQ. 

As the monkey APCs approached the weapons were prepared and the moment the first APC entered the intersection, the One made their move. Spears were thrown from the windows of buildings surrounding it, some with bombs attached others not, left as decoys. One hit the first APC and exploded, putting the others to a full stop. 

James’ came out of the buildings, closing down the intersection with molotovs. The monkeys will surrender or burn. 

“Sarge…am I fucking going crazy?” A private George Lang asked, still coping with the sheer insanity New Hollywood has developed into. “Clones? Talking monkeys? What the fuck’s been going on at Earth?!?”

“Stow it lang.” Sergeant Kaskin ordered. “All that matters now is who’s friendly and who’s in our way-“ He paused as the William gave the signal. “That’s our que boys!” Kaskin ordered as he and the rest of his squad moved into position in the top floor of a bombed out building, ready to provide suppressing fire once the apes begin storming out of their APCs. “When the monkeys come out, start firing.”

The One which was in contact with the Columbian force radioed into them as soon as the spears were thrown towards the APC.

“[color=gold] COL1, come in. This is the One. Don’t shoot to kill. We want prisoners. Over. [/color]” came in the voice of a Grant. 

“Copy that.” Kaskin replied, turning to his men. “Non-lethal shots if you can, we’re taking prisoners.”

The two recent allies surrounded the convoy at the intersection, the first Warhead APC a seemingly burning shell on the outside. Unbeknownst to the ambushers, the occupants within were uncomfortably hot and possibly concussed, yes, but protected by the thick walls which the apes favoured. It took INFOWAR mere moments to reboot into a functioning system, completing a full scan of the situation. The apes, even with the addition of the recon drones and the coming overwatch teams, were outnumbered. While the One progressively surrounded the lead Warhead with fire, there was a lack of response from the convoy at first.

Two spears had gotten lucky, jamming themselves into the tires of the lead Warhead and the explosive had disabled the .50 calibre gun. It was too bad for the ambushers that the apes would not go down without a fight. No simian left behind.

Four .50 calibre guns barked out in retaliation, laying down heavy suppressing fire to prevent any more explosives from being dished out. The two side doors and the rear ramp on each of the working APCs opened with a thunderous [i]clang[/i], depositing the six to eight apes within. A few suppressing shots from the Columbians proved deadly, downing a couple of chimpanzees clambouring out of the third Warhead.

The rest stuck close to the walls or the APCs themselves, barking out with their rifles or coming into CQC with the One on the ground. James’ and apes tore at each other amidst the ongoing fire and in burnt out buildings, sensors going crazy as greater numbers of hostiles were detected. The heavy weapons advantage of the apes was mitigated by the ambusher’s high ground, the situation started becoming untenable.

As blind suppressing fire, along with the occasional accurate spear thrown by the One, continued to be traded, a pair of massive gorillas exited the second APC. White fur, pink skin, bulging with muscle and savage teeth. Genetically modified albino twins, each carrying a large, thick metal wall as a shield, so hefty that they required both of their massive arms to heave it. They roared, slamming their shields twice into the ground before raising them above their heads, shielding themselves as they charged towards the lead burning APC.

It was clear they were trying to take their comrades out as the fighting from the ape’s side just became fiercer.

As the .50cal rained hell, the One scattered in the buildings. Some were cut down by the bullets, others killed by falling debris. It wasn’t enough to stop the One. If they die, more are ready to take their place and keep the fight going.

As the two massive gorillas came out of the second APC, the One realized their gambit worked. The apes were still animals at heart even if their brains were more advanced and as any animal, they will try to protect the leader. If the big apes, which were terrifying to look at for the One, charged towards the first APC it meant one thing. The One managed to disable their leader for the moment and he/she was still alive.

“[color=gold] COL1, we’ve got the apes surrounded. Focus fire on APCs that shoot at us and keep safe. We don’t die, you do. [/color]” called out via radio the James in charge of communication to their Columbian allies. 

Soon afterwards, a group of sacrificial Williams came out from the buildings rushing towards the lead-APC. They were all armed with explosives and their customary bone armor. In the middle of them, a Grant hunkered down moving at the same pace as the others. 

“[color=gold] We. Are. The. One. We. Are. Willing. To. Negotiate. Purchase. Services. Stop firing. Or. We. All. Die. Here. [/color]” it came as a chant from all the One. All at once, word by word. Never stopping, even as they’d fall to the enemy. 

“Copy that.” Kaskin said, now relaying his command to his men. “Remain in cover and focus fire on the APCs! Keep ‘em pinned boys!” The marines kept up their attack as they let out a resounding “Oorah!!” 

At that, the One surged towards the beleaguered apes in burnt Warhead. Amidst the One’s declarations, there was no response. The apes could not fold now and were only spurred on by the increased suppressing fire on their positions.

With gritted teeth, the albino twins continued despite being surrounded and being fired at, their comrades keeping the One away from them as much as they could. At this moment, the overwatch teams and drones arrived at opposing rooftops to the Columbians. Through INFOWAR, they were updated on the situation and acted accordingly.

Distract the Columbians to extract the downed apes. No simian was going to these inferior humans.

They used their grappling hooks to charge into the fray among the Columbians, wielding wicked swords or metal clubs with pistols. Hollering and screeching, they paid for the distraction with their lives as they harassed the greater number of Columbian soldiers. Drones flew to and from, striking with electrical shocks or physically ramming into bodies.

The chaos above meant reprieve for below as the other apes came to support the albinos. The One fell in rapid numbers with the concentrated firepower but with each clone falling, two others took its place. One William threw an incendiary explosive into the now shattered glass of the lead APC driver’s seat. Fire roasted the front of the APC, bursting the two tires and slamming the front into the pavement.

The jolt awoke many of the concussed apes within, some stumbling into the safety of the albino twins, others swarmed by the One. 

Kingston awoke to fire, screaming in agony as the fire scalded his skin and took away his fur. He burst out of APC door, genetically enhancements the only thing keeping him alive as he burned before the eyes of the One.The sergeant threw himself into the masses, ripping one James apart in half down the middle in a shower of gore. Blood extinguished fire wherever it touched, boiling on the pained sergeant’s skin.

The Kingston-turned-abomination turned on the other James’, jumping from each one so fast it was hard to track with the naked eye, ripping limbs and tearing off heads. 

[b]“SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UPSHUTSHUUUUTUUUUP!”[/b] He roared, after slamming one blood boiling arm down the throat of a poor James, ripping his oesophagus out.

The disgusting devolution of their comrade to bloodlust inspired the other apes, making them scramble back to the APC. Fearing for their lives, they crammed into the other APCs as the other. The still-burning head, the boiling blood, the consumption of pure [i]rage[/i]. It puts fear into their animal instincts greater than the worst battles. Burnt out vocal chords let out a stream of expletives and roars, sharpened talons covered in blood.

It was a beautiful concert of violence, artworks of crimson strewn around the streets. One James had an explosive shoved up the wrong hole, kicked into another just as the explosive was to go boom. Another clone had its head crushed into its spine, one more with its spine ripped from the top of the head! It was enough to make grown men vomit and Tarantino cry. 

Eventually, one James survived long enough to trigger a close proximity explosion, sending Kingston careening into a wall to finally knock him out. Burning but inconsequently, still breathing, blood boiling into a red vapour around him.

The forces retreated, the overwatch teams battered and the OP: Blitz was sent back. A few apes were taken prisoner, along with the still-breathing walking corpse of Sergeant Kingston Marley, former Legionnaire.

The One moved in fast. Williams died, Jamess bled and Grant were falling by the dozen to Kingston but that didn’t stop the One. They continued, on and on and on. One would fall only for two to their place. Their sacrifice meant nothing to the larger picture. 

One James stood on the rooftops, watching the battle unfold. Memorising attack patterns, moves and everything that was going on. Even as they watched themselves fall one by one, they kept watching, learning. Their eyes scanned the battlefield for anything that could be used in further battles and as soon as the battle finished, they ran. Fast as they could, back to HQ. Back to upload. The One needed to know. 

Prisoners were taken and brought back to the HQ, the remaining APC was stripped to its core. Weapons, bodies and everything that could be carried was taken.

“[color=gold] COL1, congrats on the win. We’re retreating back to base with the captured prisoners. Thank you for giving us a hand. How are the losses on your side? [/color]” called one of the Grants on the radio. 

“Happy to help.” Kaskin said as he and his men stood up with the rest of his squad, a few sadly laying limp on the floor. “Lost a few of my men…but we made sure to take out some of theirs before it ended.”

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>[code]<BLOODBURN> captured, exfiltration impossible.[/code]

>Confirm, <BLOODBURN> KIA or MIA?

>[code]MIA, sensors indicated live capture, experimental ‘failure’ not as much of a ‘failure’ as we thought.[/code]

>Update the One and URC in catalogs: security threat to the Khan. Heads will roll over this.

>[code]Understood.[/code]
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