VELO CITY

BY SNAIL




CHAPTER 1: TO ASHES

We run. We are the rebellion of Velo City. We deliver packages to those in need and take information from the VC Government. Velo CIty is oppressed at the moment. If the government found one of us it would mean bad news for our whole organization. My name is Fe and I am the leader of Hound-1.
Velo City used to be all bright and colorful. Now it?s gone grey and gloomy. There used to be parks were people brought their kids and dogs to play, movie theaters were teenagers would hang out with each other, video game and comic book stores, arcades, pizzerias. You know what I mean right? It was a fun place and I loved it. Then Alzi showed up. He tricked the people into voting for him as governor and they did. Once he and his party had power there was no stopping him. At least that?s what everyone thought. Now the city is mapped off into different rings. Alpha, Echo, Zed, Bravo, and finally Delta. Alpha and Bravo is were all the rich people live, far off from the city on their own little remote islands. Zed, Echo, and Delta are the poorer sides of town were nearly everyone is miserable. Nearly everyone. Some people in these sides of town have made their own gangs and some have become drug lords. Sometimes it?s so hard to believe that this city used to be all rainbows and sunshine. When Alzi first got into office, he made a claim that said children were no longer allowed to stay with their families and they had to be taken to special schools were they could learn all kinds of elite things normal children would never know. That?s when I ran away.
I?ve been running from as long as I can remember. I ran away from home when I was five. Went through the toughest time of my life on the streets. Got involved in things I shouldn?t have gotten involved in. I took up the art of thieving, it was the only way I could get food. Stealing from the houses in the Bravo ring was how I lived. After two years on the street I met Max. He and my sister, Alex, had started the rebellion. He took me and started training me. He trained me in the art of free-running and mixed martial arts. After a while of training I got to go recruit my squad mates. These were going to be the people who helped me in our missions so choosing was very important. I set off to the Zed and Delta rings since Echo was known for it?s cruelty to visitors. I watched on the roof of a bar in Delta as a boy took on a gang of six men all armed with knives. One lunged at him but he countered by kicking the man in the groin. He dropped the knife, the boy picked it up and the gang ran. They didn?t get far. The boy hunted them on the rooftops and didn?t let a single one of them get away. His name was James Blackburn. He was a simple guy who used to play baseball when the city was a city and not a living hell. He laughed when I asked him if he wanted to join but once I told him it wasn?t a joke he was on board saying that the he wouldn?t be helping the city by sitting around waiting for the gangs to get him. He wanted to change the place and make it better. Blackburn was the first to join. He told me about his ex-girlfriend Sara. She was located in the Zed ring. We (INSERT MORE BACKSTORY ABOUT THE SQUAD HERE.) The squad and I used to run mock ?Robin Hoods? as he called it where I would take a package of food and deliver it to a location on the other side of the city. I would run the rooftops, leaping between each gap and clinging to various gutters, flag poles, and the like. It has been seven years since I started training and the government is onto us. We are now running for our lives.
I walked into Max?s office that day expecting the normal Robin Hood mission that I usually run. Instead he looked at me with grief.
?Fe, you?re sister hasn?t made it back from Echo. I fear the worst. Round up your squad and go recon her.?
I ran to the barracks and called for Hound-1 to assemble. Three runners walked forward: Blackburn, Sara, and Randy. These were my closest friends and I knew that at any moment on this recon I could never see them again. Echo is an extremely hostile area of the city, surrounded by devil?s wire and guards. It was likely that this could be considered a suicide mission. I told them that straight up.
?Alright guys, gather your gear and check your weapons. We?ve got a recon mission inside Echo. As you know Alex went in to get some info on our ?amazingly amazing? governor, Alzi. Well she hasn?t come back. We?ve got to move in fast and get out fast. I want Blackburn and Randy on rooftops. Sara and I will take to the streets and meet up with you guys on Tower A?s roof. Once we?re together again we enter through the vents. If she is being held she will be on floor 17. We bust through 17?s vent system , secure the area and find Alex. Then we run back as fast as possible. Estimated time for the whole mission 40 minutes. And remember, if anything goes wrong out there, we WILL get through it. Got it Hound??
They all nodded. I could tell they were nervous.
?Guys, we aren't supposed to make it out of this alive. Lets prove them wrong. Oorahs to ashes, Hound.?
?They all saluted and said, ?Oorahs to ashes, Fe.?

CHAPTER 2: THE RECONNAISSANCE

Five minutes before Hound moved out. I was sitting in my barrack waiting, thinking about everything that could go wrong. I loved the members of my squad and I could not, would not let anything happen to them. I remembered our first mission together. We were Robin Hooding some goods to the poorer section of the city, the Zed ring. Inside the ring there are multiple crime gangs and drug lords. We were fired upon after dropping off the package and sara and I were hit, me in the hand and her in the leg. Sara still carries that bullet since it was too dangerous for to extract it since it would cause her to lose too much blood. I thought about what it felt like to get shot. Hot, stinging pain. One minute until the mission. I stood up and took to the roof.
Blackburn was giving a pep talk to Randy in front of the zip-line when I got there. I waited for him to finish and listened, just as Sara was doing.
?Randy it doesn?t matter what you do here. It?s what you do out there that matters. When I?m pinned down and need you to save my life, what will you do? Will you stand up and fight for me or will you back down and take it? Because if I knew that I was going to die today I would go out swinging. What would you do? We?re about to find out. Mount your line.?
Randy replied as he hooked his pistol on the line, ?James I?m no different than you. I plan on widowing forty of Alzi?s men?s wives by the end of today. If they want to kill me they?re gonna have the fight of their lives.? And he pushed off the building.
As they were off I heard two Oorahs to Ashes and then I heard no more of them. I turned my radio on. Sara went to the edge of the roof and grabbed the gutter.
?Alright Fe time to slide. Hound 1-A on the ground!? She slid down the gutter onto the street and signaled for me to drop as well.
?Hound 1-A on the ground,? I echoed.

*****
We ran the quickest route to Echo, only 15 minutes away from base. I picked up Blackburn on the radio.
?Hound 1-A this is Hound 1-B. We have eyes on one of Big Brother?s public executions about three blocks from your current location. Stay low and stay frosty. Over.?
?Thanks 1-B we will avoid if at all possible. 1-A, over and out.?
?Another public execution, thats like what? The fifth one this week? What?s wrong with this city?? Sara asked obviously displeased.
?A lot of things. We?ll fix it though, don?t worry.?
We approached the plaza were they were holding the execution. We snuck into the shadows.
?Alright Sara don?t make a sound and turn off your radio. Check your 1911. Safeties off, silencers on.?
We snuck around to the back of the plaza. Alzi himself was there. He threw a lever and the five men on the stage dropped, the ropes tied around their necks killing them. How much I wanted to pull the trigger of my M1911. I had his head right in my sights. It would be so easy but it would do more harm then good. We snuck into an ally.
?Nice job. Don?t think anybody saw us. Safeties on. Silencers off.?
I flipped my radio back on only to hear Blackburn in a panic. 
 ?Hound 1-A this is 1-B! We are under heavy fire. Requesting back up on Tower C! I repeat requesting back up on Tower C. Over!
?1-B we are on our way. Hang on! We?ll be there in two minutes! Over.?
?I don?t know if we can last that long! Randy is hit! I?m on my last mag! Pretty soon I?m gonna have to pick up a rock and start bashing people?s skulls in! Over!?
?Do what you have to 1-B. Over and out.?
Sara had already gotten to the rooftops. I followed. We sprinted as fast as we could, leaping across gaps between buildings before finally arriving to where we stockpiled a JNG-90 and a few STANAG and 1911 mags. I took the sniper and gave the mags to Sara.
?I have a clear shot on the tower! Take those magazines up to Blackburn and see the status on Randy. I?ll cover you.?
I radioed into Blackburn.
?Hey Blackburn, see that guy on your right??
?Yeah he?s lighting us up! We could really use some help up he---?
I fired.
?Hey Blackburn. Is that guy on the right giving you any more trouble now?? f
?No Fe. I think he got hit right between the eyes! Good shot!?
I took out the five other guys shooting at 1-B. Sara arrived with the mags and I hid the JNG once again. I then zip-lined over to them.
?Alright Hound, Tower A is right up ahead. Remember the plan? Roof to vents to securing to escaping. Floor 17. Clear??
 ?Oorah. The roof of Tower A is like fifty feet below us though and we didn?t bring any repelling equipment how do you plan to get us down there??
?Blackburn please. You think I don?t come prepared??
A news helicopter flew by us and we all grabbed onto the skids. It carried us to the top of Tower A.
?That?s how.?
?Well alright then. Yo Randy give me a help with this vent!?
They busted out the vent and we crawled into the ducts. It was cramped and hot. To make things worse we were twenty-five stories above our target.