Pathbreakers: Multiclassing For Fun And Profit

Four years ago

“We have got to get the fuck out of this place.” Han said it between his shots.

He, Amarillo and Davis had been camped out by the ridge to the 3rd chamber for 8 hours. They were out of good old fashioned American bullets by now and were using the AK-47s dropped by the enemy dead. They were vastly less accurate than the SCARs, but they were also plentiful.

Davis had woken up from her coma when a bullet hit her chest. The body armor kept her from dying, but the force of it must have pushed enough adrenaline through her body to turn her brain and body back to the on position. Now she was back in command.

“I know, Han. I know.” She said it as she swapped her rifle's clip for another, then popped back to the ridge. This let Amarillo duck down.

Amarillo had been on point for the last 3 hours straight. The night vision scope attached to his helmet was almost out of battery. “NV's almost dead.” He said it like it was his own death knell, which it might as well be. The NV was keeping them alive. The twisting shape of the mine meant that any enemy had to turn a blind corner to even aim at them. In the dark that meant they had to come out of cover, shine a light at the Americans, then aim and then fire. The NV eliminated most of that for the Rangers. They just aimed and fired. But that was about to end.

“I know, Amarillo. I know.” Davis loosed a three-round burst and killed another man. At this point none of them had any idea how many had died by their hands. Behind them were dozens of corpses. In the chamber they were currently fighting over there were at least 50 men dead on the floor. “Amarillo, how much time do you need?”

They'd been in the cave for almost 28 hours. The last three had been the worst. It was daylight up above. The hostiles had woken up to find that nobody in the mine had come back out alive. Then they'd sent in the troops.

Amarillo stretched his fingers and turned his shoulders. He closed his eyes. He'd been in firing position for 3 hours straight. He'd been straining his eyes to pick up the tiniest movement for 3 hours straight. “I only need ten minutes,” he said.

Davis said “take it. Han, I want you fresh and ready in ten as well. Then we push in.” Davis aimed down sights and pulled the trigger to kill another man. “I don't want to get your hopes up, but during my last break I got my comm working.” She aimed at another man but he backed behind cover once he saw how many were dead in the chamber. “Right now I'm picking up just local chatter, but if we get a little closer we might-” She aimed and fired. The cowardly man had come back only to meet the same fate as his comrades. “We might get our people on the line.”

That perked up Amarillo and Han. The only thing that had kept them going so far was the desperate need to keep each other alive. But this was hope. This could mean escape.

“Fuck the ten minutes, let's go!” Amarillo said.

“No, take the ten,” Davis firmly commanded. “I need both of you fresh. Han will run ahead, I'll follow. You're on cover. If we clear the next tunnel, we'll get you.”

Amarillo's lower right leg was basically ruined at this point. It was totally dead, hanging on by stips of flesh and fabric. They had to drag him through the last chamber. The only reason it was still attached was because it had stopped bleeding and they didn't want it to start again.

“Anything interesting on enemy channels?” Han asked because he knew Davis spoke Arabic, Pashto and Kurdish.

“Yeah, they're talking about waiting us out,” she replied. She took aim but it wasn't an enemy. Someone had tossed a grenade around the corner at them. She ducked down about 1 second before it went off. The blast shook the mine, which was shoddy at best. As soon as the blast ended she was up again, aimed and fired. That time she missed. She wiped sweat away from her eyes, then aimed and killed the man who threw the grenade.

“Can't let us live now,” Han said. He was looking back into the previous chamber. It was littered with corpses. He'd killed about half of them with his knife before the silence was broken and he and Amarillo had opened up with their SCARs. That seemed like so long ago now.

The cost in blood had been astronomical for the hostiles. If they just let the Americans waltz out now it wouldn't be shameful, It'd mean death sentences for whoever failed.

The Rangers gathered themselves and as much AK-47 ammo as they could carry from the previous chamber. Then Han vaulted the ridge. The sounds of his footsteps coming closer triggered shouts from around the corner in Pashto. Three men came out to greet Han but he was already aiming as they came. Han, Amarillo and Davis each got one.

By now the entryway to this chamber was slick and sticky with blood and Han had to watch his footing. He listened carefully for the sounds of more men. They were far off. He heard Davis come up behind him.

“More?” she asked.

“Not yet,” he replied. “Should I peek?”

She nodded and Han took a very low crouch to reduce his profile, then crept around the corner. He was looking down a long, straight tunnel that curved up. There was no cover for a hundred yards. And it was lit with dozens of hanging lights. They'd be dead if anyone got a look at them.

He relayed the situation to his commander. “No contact on the comm yet. I'll grab Amarillo. Hold this position.” That was her command but that was literally all Han could do at the moment.

Davis shouldered Amarillo in a fireman's carry to save time. Both Han and Amarillo were impressed by her strength. Amarillo had to be at least 280 pounds with equipment.

She dropped Amarillo next to Han and they quickly switched positions to allow Amarillo, the better shot, to take point.

“Okay, okay.” Davis seemed like she was psyching herself up for something. “I'm charging the tunnel. You guys provide cover. I'll blast my comm the whole way and we hope I get signal before they shoot me.”

“Nope,” both Amarillo and Han said at the same time.

Davis shook her head, reloaded her weapon and said, “not a democracy. Nothing else to do.”

Han had been staring at an empty gas barrel since Amarillo took over his position. “I have a bad idea, but it should work.”

A few minutes later Han was behind rolling cover. On its side the steel barrel gave him cover so long as he was A) lying down or crawling and B) very, very careful not to spread his arms or legs out. It also wouldn't do a damn thing if the hostiles had another grenade.

Han got about 10 yards up the tunnel before the first gunfight. He had to just stay down as bullets pinged off the barrel, pushing it back into him. He quickly realized that he had to hold it in place or his cover would be knocked back down the tunnel. A bullet whizzed past his ear. Another pinged off his helmet and let him see stars for 30 seconds.

Those were the longest 30 seconds of Han's life. The sounds of gunfire mixed with the blurred vision and black spots in his eyes almost made him vomit. But just as he regained control over himself, the gunfire died out and he immediately pushed the barrel forward.

The next gunfight happened when he was halfway up the tunnel. This time he was close enough that they blind fired from around the corner at him. Two men held rifles around the corner to shoot and sprayed the tunnel with lead but none of it hit Han. They stopped, he moved forward.

He was relentless. This was it. This was the push. The man who had surrendered earlier had drawn them a map. If they got to the end of this tunnel, there was just one more chamber between them and daylight.

Han pushed that barrel and crawled at a speed that would make a drill instructor proud. He pushed even as the hostiles opened fire on him again, this time Amarillo tagged one and he heard the scream as an arm had been shot off.

The next time an arm came around the corner to blindly fire, it was met by a hand that pulled the man out from cover. Han stood there, facing the shocked man, and drove his knife up into the hostile's head from beneath the chin. Another man tried to save his friend but Han pulled his pistol and shot the man in the gut three times. He didn't hear anyone else nearby so he waved for Davis and Amarillo.

As they closed in Davis started talking. “This is Davis, do you copy, this is Davis, do you copy?” Then as she finally got Amarillo to the end of the tunnel she stopped talking.

Amarillo crouched and took overwatch again. Han realized he'd been shot in the foot probably 50 yards back, judging by the blood trail. Then Davis said “Yes, you have our coordinates. Expect hostiles, they've been throwing men at us for hours.”

Then she pulled her cross necklace out and kissed the crucifix. “Boys, we've got evac in 20.”