text: Link to part 1 in the comments! Promises made, promises kept! Enjoy part 2! More coming your way in the span of several days! You probably want to know how it started. Why do three Americans have to escape from a train filled with Russian soldiers headed to Houston? Alright, I’m gonna tell you the whole deal. It all started somewhere in the mid 2030s... A certain "space travel pioneer" company had spent a massive amount of resources in research and development of efficient means energy storage. Finally, they have reached a certain point where a personal exoskeleton could be efficiently powered by a battery weighing a measly 5 kilograms! That’s not the way down which the militaries of the world headed, though... Such concentrated power gave rise to a new class of weapons- the Megawatt laser. The idea of shooting down ICBMs with giant space guns dated back to the 1960s, but now the world had a way to power this idea. A new arms race began, and soon- the long range nuclear missiles became obsolete. The nations of the world bit into each other’s throats, forming not blocks like during the Cold War, but rather small regional coalitions. Everybody invaded everybody- it was a true clusterfuck. Some nations played it wiser, though, like the Russian federation. They saw that the world would grow weaker and weaker with every day of war, and that everything around them would be easier to take over if they preserved their current strength. So they doubled down on homeland security and started mass-producing weapons of war. And, when the time came - they struck. Amidst all this- the USA depleted most of its resources on waging war in oil-rich countries, making it an easy target to invade- homeland security crumbled in months. Years of propaganda turned a once great nation into an invader-filled cesspool! All of the world’s nations- for that matter... even the Russian invaders were struggling, with their bureaucratic lines now being stretched over twenty different time zones. In all of this, Johnathan Hall and his two humble comrades are what’s left of the American special forces group called “The Rattlesnakes”- a nickname given to them by the Russians during the battle of California, where the specialists used decoys and guerrilla tactics to demoralize and wear out the enemy, making them appear as though they were a larger force. There are now only three original Rattlesnakes left, and most people on their secret base in New Mexico are civilians, barely capable of producing enough food, let alone fight. So they scavenge for Russian equipment and desperately search for good fighters, that may one day drive away the invaders and restore America! *flash of headlights* The three motorcycles drove into the Aztec ruins on low beams, trying to make as little noise as possible. Burns got off the bike and ran towards a little ruined house in the outskirts of the site, while Hall and the Colonel waited. There- he pulled a little crank out of his pocket and inserted it into the ground a few inches away from the house’s walls. When he turned the crank, a sizable trapdoor opened on the floor, revealing an ancient crumbling tunnel, lit up by butane torches: “Welcome home, soldiers!”- the colonel pronounced, as they started towing the trophy bikes into the improvised driveway of the tunnel. Hall parked his Ural near the entrance to the catacombs and took his AK from the sling. He hadn’t been here for several weeks since his capture during a scavenging operation, and he was suspicious, since, by the worlds of the colonel, neither was he. A suspicion of some extent was needed, since the tunnel might have gotten captured by the Russians who were just waiting for the team to walk in without any caution. When Burns and Reeves parked their bikes- the group headed towards the entrance to the hideout. “Awfully quiet in here... don’t you think?”- said Burns. “It’s early morning, everyone short of the guards is probably asleep.”- Reeves replied. They walked up to the metal door with a Rattlesnake painted on it and, one by one, got in. “Stop right there!” A bright searchlight lit up the darkness of the catacombs, blinding the trio: “Code! What’s the bloody code?!”- a man spoke from behind the searchlight with a thick British accent. “Susie, fetch the straw hat!”- the colonel barked. The searchlight dimmed. A silhouette of a 12.7mm DSHK turret could be made out from behind the light. A man in a British paratrooper’s uniform jumped down from the pulpit of the gate that led to the underground base: “Colonel! We were waiting for you... I mean, Leo was. I’m new here, but I’ve been informed of your arrival. Things have changed for good down here, you’ll be surprised once you enter the base!” “What’s your rank, soldier?”- Reeves said, now calmly, while his two squad mates holstered their guns. “Sergeant first class of the national liberation front paratroopers brigade, sir!”- The man saluted the colonel. “Good god, all the way from Britain?!” “Derry, sir! Our base there got barbecued a week ago, I’m afraid. Russians... Russians everywhere! My humble group of 22 men are stationed here now. Thank god your recruiter talked us into this!” “We don’t have a rec- wait. Since when do we have a recruiter?” “A kid showed up just when you left. Started gathering men from the whole world via encrypted messages. That’s how we got word of this place.” “A kid? Oh boy, do I have some questions!”- the colonel murmured: “Alright, it’s getting chilly out here! Lead us inside, Sarge-“ “Wilson”- the paratrooper fired.