Refracted

- - 53 - -

The truck halted outside of the market and as we jumped out, the familiar feeling of déjà vu crept up my spine.

Yet there was one difference.

The market was full of people. People of every age, left and right. Every race, every size, every gender. They were all here. We stood there stunned, amazed at their capabilities. And then we took action.

Our group spread out and immediately began shouting over the crowd.

"Children over here!"

"Fighters over here!"

"Refugees over here!"

Everyone had a place to go and a position assigned to them; no one could go to waste. I pushed through the crowd and made my way over to Sofia where the rest of the squad waited. Satisfied that we were ready, we started jogging out of the market, following our designated path to the warehouse.

I knew to look for it this time and briefly stopped when we approached the mural. The backwards 'R' with a lighting bolt was as prominent as ever but this time the words around it had been repeated.

"We are not Refracted."

It marked every inch of the wall in different types of handwriting and fonts. Many people had added to it before and after our announcement but regardless it showed faith in our cause. There was still hope.

"Verity!" Sofia called out to me and I sprinted to reach the group again. We were in more of a tight formation than before as communication was vital and it was safer.

The noise of the markets faded until the only noise we could hear was the slapping of our feet against the concrete. It was so hot with all the armour and equipment strapped to me but what could I do? So I pushed through it just the same as everyone else and that was that.

Eventually we reached the area with the warehouse contained. As predicted, some VSIORs had been drawn away but security was still very tight.

"Do we have a plan?" I asked Sofia.

"I sure hope so," she replied.

We selected a building that was just taller than the warehouse to allow a good vantage point. Our only issue was that it was residential and required someone from inside to buzz us in.

"You may as well ask, Verity."

I nodded and stepped up to the microphone. Choosing a random name from the long list, I pressed their doorbell. Pausing for a few seconds, I heard no answer so moved on to someone else. With most people at the market, this could take a while.

We had almost exhausted the list until one name finally picked up.

"What do you want?" They demanded bluntly.

"I am Verity from the broadcast and we need access to your roof-"

The microphone clicked off as the resident exited our call. We proceeded to try every other name but none of them worked.

"Well the positive is that they are all helping out with the rebellion," someone offered.

"It's not really going to help us now though, is it?" I muttered.

Suddenly, one of the windows above us creaked open and the head of a small teenage boy popped out.

"Were you on the HoloPad?" He asked.

I stumbled over my answer but managed to get out a "yes".

"I saw you before and you said that you want to free us! My dad is just scared really, he doesn't want to be taken away for helping you. But I'll help you, I'm not scared. My other dad said I was brave before he left to help you guys."

"That's very kind of you," I shouted. "Please could you buzz us in? We need to get to the roof!"

The boy's head disappeared, then the door clicked open and we rushed inside. One by one we ran up the stairs, as fast as we could with all our gear. The door to the roof was also locked but not as secure as the main door and Sofia easily opened it with the heel of her military boots.

Spacing out on the roof, we watched the warehouse just below us. The VISORs were patrolling like clockwork, exactly the same way they were doing so in the construction zone when Rachel... never mind. The point was that they could easily be defeated, we just had to have a plan.

As for the warehouse itself, there appeared to be only one entrance in. The VISORs were most densely packed here but it was possible to get through, with an immense amount of effort.

"What now?" I questioned Sofia.

"Now, we wait."

People never really mentioned how much of a rebellion actually was done whilst waiting. Everyone in the market hasn't even moved yet as they were waiting for more to arrive. We were waiting for the people from the market to arrive. And Farrian and Dox were waiting for the conquering of Jiona from Sofia's command before they could move in.

Minutes later...

Hours later...

"Where are they?"

"I don't know. They aren't communicating."

"Should we go and find them?"

"No, we have orders to remain here."

It felt like the fight within us had drained away to be replaced with extreme boredom. Where was the big battle outside the warehouse? Where was the big victory? Where in Terra were they?

We waited a couple more minutes until eventually we could hear them coming. They were chanting and cheering as they walked towards the warehouse but it still seemed weird that they had taken so long.

"Sofia to Rachel, what took you so long? Over."

Quickly, Rachel answered indicating that nothing else was wrong.

"Rachel to Sofia, some VISORs decided to attack the market so we had to deal with them. There were some casualties and others got scared and left but the main bulk have stayed and we are ready to fight. How is the situation of the warehouse looking? Over."

"Sofia to Rachel, there are some reduced numbers but it still looks like a big fight. However I am confident that we will win. Over."

Rachel didn't reply after that and we just waited a while longer for them to catch up to us. Soon we could see them just a bit away from the warehouse where they stopped and waited for us to make the first move.

"What's the plan?" I asked again.

"Just a full frontal attack, their numbers are pretty high but so are ours and at least means that they can't sneak up on us while planning."

"Okay then, let's do it."

"Rachel to Sofia, are you ready? Over."

"Sofia to Rachel, we are ready. I'll allow Verity to make the first shot considering everything she has done for us. After that, you should proceed and join the fight. Over."

"You want me to do it?"

Sofia and turned and looked at me. "It would be an honour."

I smiled at her as I positioned my gun at the edge of the roof. Loading an electric bullet or one-shot kill for VISORs into my chamber, I readied myself. Aiming at the VISOR closest to Rachel, I exhaled to steady my hands.

Then I fired.