HOME BUT NOT HOME

Chapter 48 - Stealing the Supplies

Chapter 48 – Stealing the Supplies

Gunsmith Battalion Fortress
Arlington County, VA
Wednesday, May 6, 2076
22:27 EST GMT-5

Of course, it was already close to ten thirty at night. We already entered the fortress, largely thanks to I.V.A.N.A and Aurora's hacking skills. We proceeded to find the vault. We had our night vision goggles on and turned on the heat sensors. It made it easy to see the dark halls and any possible threats. We then suddenly heard a voice.

"Johnson, I'm detecting movement in the east wing, investigate immediately." The voice said.

"Men, we sense movement, let's find out who's there!" said another voice.

"Shit! They're onto us!" I exclaimed.

"We can't back down now, Ace!" said Ranger. "We must keep moving!"

"He's right!" said Aurora. "Just keep moving, Austin, you'll be fine!"

We moved from the area, tried to keep it quiet as much as possible. The defenses were offline, but they eventually would come back online, within ten minutes. We were almost about to bail out, but we found a guard, with the key to the vault. Then we proceeded to see the blueprints. It didn't take us too long to find the vault.

"This is it, guys! Let's get this thing open. I.V.A.N.A? Aurora?" I said to my team.

"We're hacking away! The outer laser-shield should be deactivated within thirty seconds, but the rest is up to you!" said Aurora. "Try the encryption key and see if you can crack the safe."

So, we got to it. The safe had many levers, cycles, and tumblers, but cracking it would take an expert. Thankfully, Ranger was capable of cracking even the strongest of vaults. Within two minutes the vault was open. We then took out our bags, to collect as many supplies as we could. A lot of food, medical supplies, and even weapons. We packed up as much as we could, then we made a break for it, as Aurora hacked the air pipes, bringing sleeping gas into the vents. Me and Ranger put on the oxygen masks we were given and activated our air compressors. As we made our way out, we saw how bodies around us were dropping, as they succumbed to the sleeping gas, which would knock them out for a few hours. It took some time, but we made it back to Aurora, getting almost ninety percent of the vault contents. Then the security systems came back online, as the vault began to close and lock itself.

"You guys made it!" said Aurora.

"We did!" I spoke in joy. "Let's make it back to Jordan City and hand off these supplies. Won't be long before they realize their stuff is gone."