TO HOME WE GO

The Squad Artemis and GOE task force pulled up their left sleeves, revealing a blue UN armband that they use to differentiate themselves from the hostiles in the event of a shootout. This is to prevent friendly firing as they are dressed up like their enemy.

Maia disembarked from the pickup, throwing back a grenade that landed by the side, exploding among the terrorists.

Santiago moved to the driver seat, firing his G36 rifle.

"It's too hot in here! Santiago, go meet with Walter! We will cover you!" yelled Nanami, firing her AK-19 from behind cover.

"Alright! You all stay alive!" he replied, starting the pickup, ordering the 2 scientists to keep their heads low.

Miguel fired from the back, providing fire suppression.

Liu Zhong fired a rocket he captured, blowing up an armoured vehicle belonging to the insurgents, clearing a path for them to escape.

Santiago stepped down hard on the accelerator, ramming his way through the hostiles. In the fighting, he is shot in his lips from the side.

"MMPH!" he cried in pain, unable to speak coherently due to the injury he suffered.

Dr Reinhardt tried to push down the seat in front of her, in order to tend to Santiago's injuries, which Santiago stopped by pushing her back.

The pick up's rear tires are shot, blowing, causing the vehicle to lose control. Santiago grunted, using all of his strength to control the car, over ridding the self-driving AI system's orders to shut down the vehicle.

They approached the building. Miguel had already been shot multiple times, fortunately his body armour caught all of the bullets.

Vasily and Walter opened fire with their rifles on the 2nd floor, covering their movement.

Santiago stopped the pickup, gesturing for the 2 scientists to rush into the building, while he and Miguel shielded them from the pursuing insurgents.

"Quick, get inside, stay low!" yelled Miguel, he and Santiago passed the 2 scientists their body armours, yelling at them to put them on.

An insurgent's bullet hit Dr Reinhardt in her leg, causing her to collapse at the entrance. Dr Qin quickly pulled her in, and Santiago and Miguel followed in after them, standing in between the 2 scientists and the hostiles firing at them.

Walter gestured them onto the 2nd floor, while Vasily remained at a window, opening fire at the insurgents below with his AK-105.

Dr Qin and Walter helped Dr Reinhardt onto a table, she is screaming in pain from being shot.

"Stay calm!" ordered Walter, immediately patching her bullet wound using stitches. Santiago is groaning in pain next to them as he took a position beside Vasily, opening fire.

Walter immediately gave Dr Reinhardt a jab of painkillers, and did the same to Santiago.

Miguel in the meantime ordered Dr Qin to hide himself, giving him his body armour, and then blockading the stairs heading up to the 2nd floor with the furniture inside.

"Nan Chang!" radioed Vasily, wiping away the sand blown onto his face. "This is Artemis 7! We need that air support, how long more do you all need?"

Hearing static, he checked Walter's equipment again, dismayed to find a red light blinking, signalling connection lost.

"Rats..." he cursed. "I really hate sandstorms now."

(Plaza)

Aya reloaded, while the rest of the team on the ground remained firing, forming suppressive fire to push the enemy back. The sandstorm has now enveloped the entire area, swallowing everyone in a thick yellow cloud.

Consequently, all of the team grabbed their helmets from their bags, wearing them, flipping down their night vision. This allows them to see each others' blue armbands through the use of IR based RFID tags on them.

"Everyone on the ground, head to the prison camp! Set up a defense perimeter!" ordered Aya. "Break contact and avoid firing! Try to sneak through the chaotic battlefield!"

Antonio emptied his G36 magazine, running backwards while reloading. He tapped Liu Zhong on the shoulder, who then stopped firing, running and reloading.

Aya, Ethan and Electra led the charge back into the prison building, gunning down the hostiles at the front door. Liu Zhong, Juan and Atsumi rushed in behind them, clearing the top floors of remaining hostiles, while Aya's group secured the basement, then rushed back up to the surface, covering Maia who is rushing in, with the rest behind her.

The 4 snipers continued to provide sniper fire to clear the path towards the prison building.

Sean fired in bursts of automatic fire from his SCAR-H, raining down destruction on the hostiles below him.

Frederica opened fire, disabling an armoured vehicle.

"Snipers, we are at the prison camp, get ready for ex-fill," radioed Aya. She intends to converge everyone together, free the rest of the prisoners, steal vehicles, pick up the snipers, and storm out out the area towards the security building.

Just then, more insurgents and Vanguard terrorists surrounded the area, opening fire on each other, as well as shooting the joint Squad Artemis-GOE strike team in the building.

The end result is that the snipers and the rest of the operators are cut off from each other.

"Damn it," cursed Cameron, reloading her sniper rifle. Meari raised her body from the pile of trash, attempting to get a better view of the area below them using her monocular.

"Whoosh!" a bullet came flying, and Meari is immediately blown backwards, collapsing into the pile of trash.

"Meari!" yelled Cameron, hurriedly moving back and checking her partner.

"Ah..." groaned Meari, pulling off her body armour, finding a fresh bruise underneath, impact left behind from a 7.62x54R round that had came from nowhere, hitting her in the chest.

"Enemy sniper, must have picked up our shots with individual radars," reported Cameron. "Meari is alright."

Sean raised his monocular, scanning the area carefully, while Frederica remained on her sniper scope.

"We are blown," said Cameron, "We will switch to another position, cover us."

Meari bandaged her wound, then moving off with Cameron, using the sandstorm and shield their movement. Fortunately, the enemy sniper had wrongfully assumed that he had killed Meari and she is alone, hence not following up shots.

Though that means that it is now hard for Frederica and Sean to find the sniper, as they neither have a clear view thanks to the sandstorm, and the shots ringing out all around them meant that they cannot use their individual radars to accurately pinpoint the source of the gunshot, especially when the enemy sniper did not shoot again.

(Security building)

"LAST MAG!" announced Walter, reloading his last rifle magazine, opening fire on the hostiles below.

Santiago is firing down on the enemies trying to break the barricade they have formed at the staircase, while Miguel and Vasily fired at the other windows.

A grenade landed beside Santiago, he immediately jumped out of the way, the shockwave still hit him hard nonetheless, he groaned in pain, struggling to stand up.

"You all need it more than us!" yelled Dr Qin, trying to return Santiago his body armour.

"MMPH!" mumbled Santiago as he waved at him, trying to tell him to stay put.

A cluster grenade fell through a window. Walter immediately picked it up and throwing it back outside.

However, it exploded prematurely in his hands.

"AHH!" roared Walter in pain, withdrawing what is left of his arm back into the building. His entire left arm had been blown off below the elbow, leaving a huge splat of blood on the window frame. His charred titanium alloy skeleton can be seen from the stump, with broken flesh and skin hanging off the end of his elbow.

"WALTER!!" yelled Vasily, rushing over. Miguel moved in to cover up the gap, firing his MP7. He immediately froze the stump, while Walter took out a tourniquet from his medical bag, applying it to the injury.

"AHH!" yelled Walter, having patched up his injury and taken a jab of painkillers, grabbing his FN 5-7 pistol and firing below. Vasily then rushed to another window, opening fire.

(Prison building)

"AH!" yelled Diego, getting shot in the legs just as he was about to enter the building, falling,

Antonio helped him up, while Nanami covered them, rushing into the building last.

Liu Zhong, Atsumi and Juan set up a heavy weapons nest on the 2nd floor, firing at the targets below them. Liu Zhong and Atsumi fired their machine guns, while Juan fired from his grenade launcher.

Maia, Electra and Ethan remained at the 1st floor, opening fire.

Aya tended to Diego's injuries, while Nanami and Antonio rushed to the back door to search for vehicle, finding a heavy all terrain cargo truck at the garage, which can fit all of them, and is lightly armoured.

Antonio rushed to the basement, rounding up all of the prisoners below and guiding them towards the truck.

"Come on, come on..." muttered Nanami trying to hack into the authentication in order to start the vehicle.

(Security building)

Miguel continued shooting.

Suddenly, 2 shots rang out from below, the bullets diving into Miguel's neck and chest, spewing out blood, and he staggered backwards, collapsing into a pillar, dropping his gun.

Dr Reinhardt limped over to him, trying to stem his blood flow futilely. His boiling blood spluttering out from his neck artery soon stained her white lab coat red.

"MMPH!" yelled Santiago, tears raining down his face as he rushed over to his man.

Dr Qin also tried to go over to help, but is stopped by Walter, who then went to the stairs, firing his pistol at the hostiles trying to break in. Vasily held back his urge, remaining at the windows, knowing that the second they stop firing they are doomed.

"The mission..." muttered Miguel, losing consciousness.

"We have escaped, thank you," lied Dr Reinhardt, trying to comfort the dying soldier that had swapped his life for her's. Her eyes now red and swelling.

Miguel nodded weakly, dropping his head.

Dr Reinhardt hugged him, while Santiago closed Miguel's eyes. He is unable to cry due to his mouth injury.

"We are home...we are home..." bawled Dr Reinhardt as Miguel's body went cold in her arms.

"RPG!!" yelled Vasily, he immediately dived out of the way, just as a rocket flew into the room.

The good news is, in a case of extreme luck, the rocket had flown out of the room through another window behind them, exploding outside.

The bad news is, the rocket had toppled the amplifier, which then fell onto the floor, breaking into its components.

"No, no, no, no..." muttered Walter, hurriedly rushing over, using his remaining hand to try to re-assemble it. Dr Qin crawled over, and Walter gave him instructions to help him re-assemble.

(Warehouse)

"Meari was facing Southwards, that shot hit her in her front chest," thought Sean, scanning the buildings in the northern direction.

He looked at the buildings carefully, scanning the area.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed something reflective amid the thick yellow brown sand. He zoomed in on the object in his monocular.

A spent steel bullet casing sat at the edge of a wall. It is a rimmed cartridge.

"It's a 7.62 x 54R," recognised Sean. "A full powered rifle cartridge. Machine guns and sniper rifles use such ammunition. This round must have been ejected out of a gun."

"Since there is only one, it's likely a sniper rifle," he thought, quickly scanning the area for an opening where an ejected spent casing may had flown out of.

And true enough, there is an open attic window nearby, and Sean saw a sniper and his observer in the reflection of the glass window. The sniper is using a SVD sniper rifle.

He aimed his rifle, dismayed to find out that he cannot hit them from where he is at.

Frederica, while armed with an anti-material rifle which can easily shoot through concrete walls, can only guarantee that she can hit the observer from her angle.

Hence, Sean radioed Cameron, asking if she can hit from her angle.

"Cameron, come in!" radioed Sean.

All he got are static chatter. He tried again, getting the same result. Confused, he looked at his radio.

"No signal? Vasily and Walter must have trouble," he thought worriedly.

He racked his brain, trying to think of a way to get the message across to them.

A risky idea came to his mind. He grabbed his rifle, removed the suppressor, aiming it at the wall outside the attic.

He rapidly pulled the trigger, shots landing on the concrete wall, forming holes on the wall.

Frederica understood what Sean is trying to do, using gunshots to alert Cameron and Meari.

She then also fired on the concrete wall with her TAC-50A. The .50 bullet punching into the concrete like paper, killing the observer in one clean shot.

The sniper crouched down, not daring to move thanks to Sean's and Frederica's shooting, worried that a bullet will fly out and kill him. Fortunately, their shooting are drowned out in the gunfire, concealing them.

Cameron and Meari, who have now retreated to the 2nd floor of the building they are on, heard the gunshots, recognising them to be from Sean and Frederica's rifles.

Cameron removed the suppressor opened a window slightly, aiming her rifle in the direction of the gunshots. The enemy sniper soon appeared in her reticle. She adjusted her scope accordingly, moving her finger to the trigger of her MRAD sniper rifle.

One pull later, the enemy sniper disappeared from her reticle, the only sign of his existence is a fresh splat of blood on the wall next to where his head was.

"That's Cameron, I think they got him!" exclaimed Sean, recognising the sound of the MRAD.

Frederica then tapped Sean on the shoulder, heading towards the door.

"Where you going?" asked Sean.

"To the prisoner building, since communications are down, the right course of action converge with the main group, Cameron and Meari will make the same choice," she replied.

Sean agreed, he collected their spent casings and recovered the robot. The 2 walked out into the receding sandstorm, tightening their headscarves and slapping on the goggles on their helmets.

Frederica raised her MCX, standing ahead of Sean, the 2 carefully maneuvering towards the prison building, guided by the gunshots.

They ran into Cameron and Meari who had the same idea as them.

"The communications are still down?" asked Meari.

Frederica shook her head.

Just then, a weak sound popped into their radios.

"This is Walter, do you all copy?" the voice asked.

"This is Cameron," replied Cameron.

"We are pinned down in the security building. Miguel's down! We need help!" said Walter.

Aya, who is listening to the SOS, immediately ordered Meari and Cameron to rush to the security building to relive the pressure there. Sean and Frederica are to flank the hostiles at the prisoner building, creating an opening for them to charge out in the cargo truck.

"Understood!" reported Sean. He and Frederica rushed forward, while Cameron and Meari headed in the opposite direction.

Sean and Frederica soon appeared behind the hostiles firing on the prison building. Frederica immediately aimed into the red dot sight of her MCX, firing in automatic fire. Sean switched to his canted red dot sight on his SCAR-H, firing in fully automatic too.

This sudden burst of gunfire from the back caught the hostiles by surprise, and many are gunned down, creating a break in firing.

Maia and Nanami who had set up a forward position outside of the building threw grenades, guiding them using telekinesis, taking out a cluster of hostiles. Maia yelled at Sean and Frederica to converge with them.

Frederica and Sean slid into their position.

"Took you long enough, Freddie!" berated Nanami at her twin.

"Big sis, should be charging out...now!" said Maia. As if on cue, the cargo truck charged out, ramming open the front door and gate, speeding down the road.

Atsumi, Liu Zhong and Juan opened the top hatch, firing their heavy weapons.

"Let's go!" yelled Liu Zhong above. The back cargo loading hatch opened. Ethan appeared, gesturing at the 4 to come onboard.

The 4 rushed towards the truck, only for a series of gunshots to cut them off when more hostiles arrived and fired on them. Ethan is then forced to close the hatch to prevent munitions from entering.

Nanami is shot in her torso and in her legs by the ambush, falling. A finger on her right hand is also shot off. Frederica immediately dragged her back into cover.

Maia grabbed a cluster grenade. It is made from locking 2 grenades together through the built in mechanism. She threw it backwards at the hostiles.

Due to the incessant firing, she missed her mark, and the cluster grenade ended up dropping just outside their cover, and they are all in the blast radius. Maia's eyes widened in horror.

"GRENADE!" yelled Sean, diving for it. His body had moved automatically, all to save his fellow sibling and comrade.

It exploded under him, throwing him into the air. Sean fell back onto the ground, coughing out blood. Not even the bodies of Squad Artemis can take the damage of grenade shockwave to their internal organs.

"SEAN!" screamed Frederica.

Liu Zhong hurriedly directed his machine gun in their direction, taking out the hostiles. He then asked Ethan to quickly open the back hatch.

"HURRY UP!" yelled Ethan, firing a rifle grenade.

Frederica wiped away her tears, immediately hoisting her partner onto her shoulders and ran towards the truck. Maia followed, helping a limping Nanami. Once the 4 are inside, Ethan closed the hatch.

Antonio stepped down on the accelerator. The truck charged at full speed, crushing all the obstacles in their way.

Frederica meanwhile hurriedly tended to Sean, trying to stabilise his condition, she called Ethan to give her help.

"Freddie, calm down, there is not much you can do—" said Ethan.

"SHUT UP!" she snapped, shocking all of her siblings, seeing the reticent Frederica having an outburst.

"Pain..." muttered Sean, feeling his consciousness fading.

"Don't talk, stay awake, please," cried Frederica, cradling Sean.

"Are...we...at Tokyo...Freddie?" muttered Sean. His deliberate distancing towards his siblings now fading, revealing his true self.

Frederica smiled slightly, happy to hear Sean call her by her pet name again.

"Yes," she sniffed. "We're home, so please stay awake..."