- Message of Aid

While they were making their way through the maze that was the residential area, Gus felt his comm device on his wrist start to vibrate. This meant that someone outside of the active link that he had with his squad was trying to contact him.

It was not a sensation he was used to, but he understood what it meant. While they were effectively silent through most of the day, Gus had given clear instructions for his squad to maintain a live feed on the comm device almost constantly. This meant that, in the case of an emergency, someone could contact any other member of the squad in a situation where they needed aid. As a result, he did not experience the vibration much.

The vibration meant one thing only. Someone was trying to contact him, and it was someone who was not in his squad.

Raising the comm device and activating the display, he was able to see who was contacting him.

The device was similar to a watch, with a microphone installed inside to allow a person to communicate with others. Facing upwards was a surface, just like that of a watch. Installed in this surface was a series of micro projectors, each linked together to provide a projection above the watch. This projection was simple, and provided the user knowledge of anyone who was contacting them, along with the information of anyone that they had saved to the device.

As it turned out, the one who was contacting them was Jet.

'That's good,' Gus thought. 'Perhaps he has some information for us on what's going on.'

As he answered, he heard Jet's heavier than normal breathing on the other side.

"Gus, is everything okay with you down there?" he asked, speaking through heavy, ragged breaths. "What's going on?"

"There was an assassination attempt," Gus responded. "We've got the politician who was speaking at the rally, and we're hoping to find some safety in the residential area."

"Are you okay?" Jet asked. "Is everyone okay?"

"We're all fine for now, but we could do with something to get us out of here."

"I'm working on that. I've got in touch with some people, and they're on their way to the area. They'll know what you look like, so if they find you then they'll get you out of there. In the meantime, I'll see what I can find out about them. As for yourselves, keep safe. Stick together. Remember what you've learned from the league and from lessons. And, good luck."

Perhaps they had heard the commotion from the rally, or perhaps Gus and the others were making too much noise, but some of the locals decided to go up to the roof of their house, or poke their heads out of the windows, curious about what was happening.

"Keep an eye out above," Mykolos said. "We know nothing about the people here. Treat everyone as a thre-"

He was interrupted by the wet sound of one of his Blood Knights being shot. The bullet passed through their head, and threw gore all over the other Knights that surrounded them.

The reactions of the others were mixed. Some, especially those closest to the one that had died, lost all sense of rational thought in their mind and were driven into a panic. Others who had a military background, such as Joel, managed to react to the attack by forcing open a nearby door to give the group somewhere to hide.

Gus knew the necessity of carrying on under threat. It had been one of the many lessons thrust upon him during his time with his father and the Evolved. Since they would usually torment him if he was around them, especially when they were younger, Gus had to ensure he was as far from them as he could be. This included knowing how to move away from them when they approached. Thanks to this, he was able to react quickly to the attack.

Seeing Joel kick open a door, Gus immediately moved towards it. In his way was one of the Blood Knights, who was too shocked to move. Rather than move out of the way, he tackled them in to the room and got them to safety.

He immediately got up and directed the others into the building, while drawing his weapon. Looking up, he quickly fired off a shot at one of the assailants.

While the weapons were designed only to stun, the fall that the attacker he shot was doomed to guaranteed that he would not get back up. Fortunately, he was not the only thing that fell. Near his body lay a weapon, one that was likely to be lethal.

*Enemy Killed.*

*Reward: [100] EXP.*

"Someone grab the door," he yelled to no one in particular as he dashed out towards the body.

Narrowly avoiding enemy fire, he reached the weapon and slid as he grabbed it, taking cover in a doorway to another building. Without looking, he popped the gun out and blindly fired off a couple of shots. After a couple more seconds, he leaned out to take a look.

His blind spray had connected with someone. Even though there was one less, there were still multiple enemies around the area that threatened him. Regardless, he had to get back to his squad.

Lowering his weapon, he lifted his wrist to his mouth. "Get the door open, and give me some covering fire," he ordered his squad. His plan was that the instant he saw the door open, he would rush across and get back to them.

As soon as the door swung open, he moved. Focused volleys of fire lashed out from the doorway as he approached, as his squad gave him some covering fire.

As he slid towards the door, he twisted his body and fired off a couple of volleys towards where he thought the attackers were. Judging from the sounds he heard, his shots connected with their targets.

*Enemies Eliminated: [3]*

*Reward: [300] EXP*

*Level Up!!*