WWF

Sixteen

"Where the hell is Aiden?!" Jules shouts.

"He went on ahead! I think Gwen and Artemis went with him!" Keegan replies over the sound of battle.

Then he dodges an enemies sword before throwing a counterattack.

Dodging enemy attacks Veera's thoughts flash to Gwen. In her head she prays that her friend can remain safe.

In the meantime, deep within the bowls of the compound, Gwen is busy mowing down enemy troops as she moves towards the most secure part of the base. Behind her is a small team of highly skilled troops.

As they make their way through the compound they run into multiple spec ops level enemies.

A few even manage to cut Gwen. But before long they stop a team that's busy transporting a masked Fur.

It's the president.

"Stop right there!" Gwen shouts at the men surrounding him.

They do as she says while turning towards her. They also brandish their weapons.

Then Gwen notices them move to the side as massive bear Fur steps to the front of the group.

"Let's take 'em boys!" Gwen shouts, running at the bear.

She slides to try and swipe at his legs, but he jumps above her blade before deftly landing on his feet.

Trying a different approach, she jumps and swings at his neck. But, the bear suddenly grabs her wrist and throws her across the room, against a wall.

The impact knocks the wind out of her as she slides to the floor with her vision flashing black and white.

Her blurred sight returns just in time for her to see a large foot about to crush her skull.

Quickly she rolls out of the way. She then proceeds to use her momentum to get back to her feet.

"Frail kitten." The bear says, a deep growl emanating from his chest.

With the sound of battle behind them, the two exchange attacks that either miss or hit, seemingly at random. What isn't random though is that Gwen is taking significantly more damage than the bear with his thick fur and tough hide.

As the bear kicks hee across the room she notices him wince. She also feels less power from his right leg than from his left.

After struggling to her feet she looks at his leg.

A deranged smile spreads across her face as she notices a bandage sneakily winking at her from the gap between his pants and his boot.

With renewed determination she charges at him. Feigning a strike to the side she waits for him to react defensively before she swipes down at his wounded leg.

The bear notices her attack and desperately tries to move his leg out of the way.

But this only causes him to lose his balance and tumble backwards.

Gwen uses this opportunity and swipes a claw at his hurt leg before jumping at his head, hoping to decapitate him.

With a shocked expression the bears head rolls across the floor, away from his heavy corpse.

Gwen stops to take a deep breath and recompose herself.

Suddenly a blade his thrust through her side from behind.

Turning around she sees that an enemy had thrown his spear at her in an effort to take her with him as he dies.

With a look of defiance she pulls out the spear and shoots finger at the dying soldier.

A few moments later their squad's medic runs over to help her.

Five minutes go by before they take the president and return the way they came from.

As they're running down the hall they hear the rush of enemy reinforcements behind them.

"We're not gonna make it." One of her soldiers comments.

"We'll make it." Gwen says, hoping to reassure her team. But even she had her doubts.

Then, out of nowhere, a group of their own run past them. At the front are Gray and Ace.

"We'll hold them off." Ace says, patting her on the back before turning towards the enemy.

"Just come back alive." She replies with a nod.

Once Her team is a short distance away from them Gray turns towards Ace.

"You think they're far enough away?"

Ahead of them is a large force of enemy troops. They wouldn't be able to hold them off long enough for Gwen to get the president to safety. And they knew this.

"Press it." Ace orders.

Taking a few deep breaths Gray pulls out a detonator and presses down on the crimson trigger.

Suddenly small explosions fill the halls behind them, collapsing the building and blocking the path.

"To glory!" Ace shouts, leading the men around him at the enemy.

The battle is chaotic as it fills the halls with the clatter of metal on metal. Here and there the popping sound of Gray's six shooters can be heard.

The fight only lasts five minutes.

But then, there is only silence.

Out of respect, the enemy troops put the bodies of Ace and his team into a sitting position, their weapons in their laps.

It doesn't take them long to realise they'll need to find another way out.

Meanwhile on the surface Gwen takes the president to the tank where Keegan and the others are waiting.

"Get the president out of here." Gwen tells Keegan.

"What about you?" He asks, looking at her wounds.

"I need to go help Aiden." She replies.

Then her eyes suddenly turned white as she fell into Keegan's arms.

"I'm sorry, but that would be suicide." Veera says, putting her hand on Gwen's head.

Keegan then puts both the president and Gwen inside the tank before following behind.

As the tank is driving away Grease looks towards the battle where she spots the familiar silhouette of an enemy tank.

She's about to warn them when she hears the sound of two cannons firing. One from their tank and one the enemy tank.

She sees the enemy tank go up in flames just as the shell it fired hits the ground by them.

The shockwave throws her against a wire fence.

The first thing she does is check herself for wounds.

She finds that she's been cut badly by shrapnel.

Looking around her she finds Veera laying on her side, eyes wide open. Stuck in her chest is a piece of shrapnel the size of a man's hand. Her dead eyes blindly stare at Grease.

Grease looks up and sees Jules running at her when suddenly his head jerks to the side by the force of a sniper's bullet penetrating his skull.

As she sees his body fall to the ground she remembers something her father had said about war.

"In war there is no such a thing as plot armour. Stories have them because they want the characters to survive. But a blade does not care whether you are the main character or part of the supporting cast. We all bleed when cut. And we all die when killed."