With a deafening crack the bullet would pierce through the truck bed and plow into concrete rubble on the other side sending small shards of concrete bouncing against the underside of the vehicle, a fine mist of rock dust shooting backwards into the small opening. The
open backed truck would remain firmly stuck in place, surrounded by concrete.
Nearly a minute would pass before a metallic hand would jam itself into the small opening that had been allowing light through. It would take hold of the concrete slab above Makari and lift, sliding the slab up and to the right Standing above this new opening was a
power armor clad individual. His blocky white armor had a red cross painted on the shoulder pad. He was reaching down towards Makari, his voice completely overwhelmed by the loud ringing in his ears.
Just beyond the power armor the soldiers could get a view of what had changed in time he had spent underground. The large towers of this downtown area had been leveled entirely. The high rises that they had originally been driving past now only existed as a large field of rubble with various burning buildings remaining standing towards the edge of this flattened area. The sky hadn’t escaped either, a dark cloud hanging over the entire area and blotting out the sun. A
rescue ship was hovering over head, its three downward tilted engines and the fires that were burning provided the only light for this area.
After a few moments of watching the injured soldier the armored hand would withdraw, pulling out a small datapad that had been attached to the side of the armor. The small screen would then be held up towards Makari with two words on it.
“Injuries?
Survivors?”
Luke would find himself in a similar situation, having crawled out from under the bodies he was now in the same small cavity under ground that Makari was in, looking up at the medical power armor above him. The truck itself had been entirely buried, the driver’s cabin having been squished entirely.
---
The NMX soldier had already dropped his rocket launcher, running back towards the clothing he had laid out earlier when the torrent of bullets from below smashed into what remained of the window. The projectiles causing a deafening roar as they chewed large holes out of the floor and ceiling of the room, causing chunks of glass and concrete to fall to the ground below.
He would quickly tear off his remaining clothing, tossing his shirt aside as he hopped on one foot to remove his pants. When finished he would toss the clothing back over to the pile of equipment he had left booby trapped. He would then grab the shirt and pants that had been laid out, pulling the shirt on and then hopping into the pants as he tried to make a quick escape towards the building’s central staircase.
---
Back at the monorail Phaedra would feel a sharp pain in her legs. Small shards of monorail had punctured her body like splinters. These injuries were superficial but the large metal piece of chair was not. A bar nearly three feet long had been propelled through her right leg, cutting through the meat just under the knee and behind the shin.
To make matters worse there would be a high pitched whine that permeated the area near the monorail as the first car began to disintegrate entirely, the ceiling slowly crumpling downward, held up only by its connection to the car behind it and the remaining poles, seats, and doors that had not been smashed apart by the rockets. The slow pulling of the ceiling had another effect too, yanking the car that was still on the tracks forward, causing further cracks to develop in the support holding what remained of the monorail up off the ground.
