The Noe star system was home to planet Lorenzo. A world purely dedicated to farmland, Puerto Viejo was one of the few places surrounded by mountains. Amongst other beans and cereals, almost the entire planet was flat land filled with corn and beans, the crops lined by long rivers and lakes that roamed the entire planet like veins and moles. Almost entirely devoid of any life aside from simple greenery, it was discovered that the soil was more than prime for the reaping when it came to food quality. The sheer size of it also meant that farmers and technicians would often disappear for weeks within their rigs if they had to go far enough away from one of the ports.
Lyle and Marco ran between fields, getting closer and closer to the port. They were making quick distance, shooting through any altered that came their way. The one farmer they had seen earlier was one of the unfortunate few that crossed paths with inevitable doom. The sound of gunfire echoed through the valley, C class altered were generally quiet which meant they didn't have to listen to their harrowing bellows. They sprang from the bushes at high velocities, but both handlers quickly disposed of each that came their way.
As they approached the immense building, a signal came through both of their duplexes. It was Bodhi speaking.
"Good morning lads, how are we handling ourselves now?" Marco almost stopped for a second but Lyle continued undeterred. Usually the only people who could use them were handlers or their direct higher ups.
"Bodhi, is that you?" "Yeah, got a little promotion, but no time to chat, the majority of the altered seems to have been taken care of, but..." There was a period of silence as if he was thinking. "Upper management seems to think we have big 'problems' incoming, meet you at the western gate." The connection cut out, Lyle yelled behind him with his eyes ahead, "Got that?" As they both continued on their way.
Being almost five times the size of one like Arturo, Puerto Viejo served not only served as a landing dock for the ferries that brought food back to earth and other colonies, but also a processing and storage facility for said things. A rectangular building with stacks of smokes that came out from the top, the ferries faced south while the majority of their chassis were, the large rectangular crafts had small cockpits that almost made them look like cockpits.
About 10 stories tall, The building was split into fourths. The entire western quarter was dedicated to all the farm equipment, from the farm rigs to the crew's quarters and equipment. The two middle quarters were all processing, the storage and shipping on the north and south side respectively. The eastern most and the smallest housed the logistics department in the top of the half of the building. It was also the only side that was set at the foot of a mountain so it was almost perfectly convenient.
They approached from the far southeast, running at full speed. The closer they got, the more the firefight subsided. Marco looked at the building, there were four ferries parked up, he heard the loud warping that came from one of them as it shifted away, leaving the dock open. The gate began to close an instant later, he could see the crew inside running back and forth in a hurry while yelling at one another.
On the western side, a large concrete pad that ran from the south to the northern end. Standing in the middle amongst small cars and trucks, There was a group of about 20 people standing in a circle. Among them was Bodhi. As the two approached, Marco noticed that he had not only cleaned himself up, but also had gotten a new arm. Much more crude in nature, it was a bulky piece of outer framing, not too dissimilar from the farmers' exoskeleton.
They stared each other down before raising their hands, clashing their palms in a loud almost thunder like sound. "Not bad, Bodhi." Said Marco with a big grin. "Looks like you're putting that arm to good use" Bodhi replied, his trimmed down beard not hiding a similar smile.
In the center of the crowd was a group of three people, two of them sitting down while typing away at computers. In the middle was Arthur, with his usual coat and hat combo.
"Temporary, He said he needs 'all hands on deck.' Considering my little... situation? He's put me up as a handler for the time being." He tapped his arm, pressing the spot where Tyson had sliced his arm off. Marco was about to ask what had come of it, but as he was about to, Arthur yelled out.
"Alright troops, you all might be my most elite kill squadron." He placed his hand on the table, standing up straight as he looked around, setting his sight on Marco and Bodhi. "There is still fighting out there being had as you can hear, but you all have a bigger task at hand."
He pressed a button, out of the table came a large projection, what looked like a system of tunnels that extended in every direction facing upwards. "This here is the cave entrance to the north west mount, to cut to the chase, it is riddled with B class altered that are currently roaming the tunnels." The group looked around, mumbling things to themselves. Lyle furrowed his brow, asking Marco "You think Tyson has something to do with this?"
Marco looked at him confused. "How so?" "Seems too convenient." Lyle scratched his chin as he answered. Arthur yelled again.
"Now, I need all of you to get in there and rid of as many as possible, understood? Cannons locked and loaded as you approach, They're starting to trickle out already." He looked behind him, raising a pair of binoculars he pulled out from his pocket.
Marco looked in that direction, in the far off distance, there was a range of mountains about ten miles away. One of them had a small entrance, which despite it's distance, he was able to look into thanks to his eye enhancements. There was nothing, but after a second or two, a huge altered crawled out, Ducking it's head to pass over the small entrance. It turned it's head to scan the horizon before it got blasted to bits. The loud crack of the gunshot that dispatched it could be heard shortly after.
The gate of the facility opened, two more trucks came out, parking themselves around them. Making four of them, matching the number of cannons that had been turned into rifles by some of the handlers. "You will get in in groups of four, the fifth person with the booster will stay outside keeping watch, we have trained eyes on the spot but you can never have enough. Understood?!" They all saluted with a palm to their chest and responded with "Yes sir!"
All the trucks already had drivers so they all loaded into the backs. They wanted them to conserve energy, the expansive tunnels were almost a mile in length, one could easily get lost or confused.
Lorenzo handlers had different uniforms, instead of white jumpsuits, they wore green coats with matching green pants. The color was not too dissimilar to the crops surrounding them. Far more rugged and rustic, they worked under the Feudal Agricultural Company which far predated the O.S.D. It was not strange seeing the two work together, but in these numbers it was odd.
In the truck got Lyle, Marco, and Bodhi. Along with them came two FAC handlers. A man and a woman, both with much darker complexions. Their uniforms were dirtier than theirs, chalked with dust, they both wore hoods that covered most of their head. The woman was the one with the rifle. Her eyes were a shiny yellow with a matching glow on her fingertips. The man leaned forward, looking down at the floor, Marco couldn't see his face but the glow on his fingertips was white, a color he had never seen before.
"You are not from around here, are ya?" The woman spoke with almost a Persian accent. The truck sped down the dirt road, hitting bumps that nearly threw the three of them off. Her sitting position was far more relaxed, stabilizing her in place.
"We are not!" Yelled Bodhi as he bumped back and forth Between Marco and Lyle. Marco grabbed on to the seat, allowing some level of stillness. "Why do you ask?!" He asked loudly.
The truck made a sharp turn, they all held on as it swayed them to the left. "A few 'special' people showed up a few days ago, ushering everyone away from the loading areas, halting our operations so a special package could be delivered." She leaned in, speaking directly to Marco, "Do you know anything about the extra security allotted to the south by your people?"
Lyle reached behind Bodhi and tugged at Marco's shoulder. "I think our friend here has had enough of this conversation." He let go of his shoulder as she leaned back.
"I'm just making small talk, dear." She looked around her rifle, dusting parts of it off. "What might your names be?" The three of them answered accordingly. "My name is Nour, it's good meeting people in the same profession from different roots."
Marco turned to the hooded man. He could see he had a long beard that draped down slightly from his hood. "What about him, what's his name?"
He turned to look up, both of his eyes were a milky white as he stared at Marco. "Hamzah-." Spoke Nour, "-is blind and mute."
Bodhi frowned, not because he was angry, but out of confusion. "Blind? How does he shoot?" The man turned his face to him, sucking in his lips. "He may not see, but his aim is true." She patted his shoulder, "I have worked with him for the last four years, and I can almost assure you he is a better shot than you."
Bodhi didn't seem insulted by this, rather a slight smirk grew on his face. "We will see about that." Hamzah lifted his index finger to his face, pointing it forward while bowing his head slightly in his general direction.
The truck began to go uphill, the closer they got, the smaller the facility seemed. The gunshots kept at a steady pace, the only difference being the now louder volume at which they were heard. Their truck was the last in the small convoy.
Around the entrance to the cave system was an almost flat 50 feet radius of gravel, the trucks parked in a half circle in front. Everyone except the drivers and the snipers got off, they all had their hand cannons at hand while walking towards the hole with guns trained on it.
And unfamiliar voice came through his duplex, "Halt."
Everyone stopped at the same time, dead silent. Only the sound of a few of them adjusting their footing and the wind that past them could be heard.
Not too long after, loud stepping could be heard from inside, what sounded almost like a growl came from within.
A long B class altered leaped from within, multiple mangled arms sprouted from it's sides as it rotated in the air looking almost like a parasol. It shot out almost instantaneously, covering about 10 feet of distance before being shredded by the gunfire of 20 people, turning it's large body to Swiss cheese. The sheer force of the amount of shots nearly stopped all of it's momentum as it's upper half was riddled with holes.
"GO NOW!" The same voice spoke, in the same moment, they all sprinted inside in groups of four. The only one who slightly lagged behind was Hamzah who was a few steps behind the group.