Part One
The sirens howled as the
lights in the corridor went red and began to rotate, the crimson
washing over the body armor of the soldiers as they rushed along, all
with one destination. It had taken Ash under ten seconds to put on
his gear but Phoenix took twice as long and only when Phoenix sharply
nodded did Ash proceed. Running along the back of a line of other men
with their rifles and their armor toward the octagonal platform on
the roof. Set well above The Cloud and unobstructed by nearby
structures, it served as the landing pad for the Espher military.
Each platform held a somewhat ovoid tilt-rotor aircraft that all
cried out with the same shrill sound of their engines coming to life.
Squads were assigned specific landing pads and Ash and Phoenix hooked
sharply to the side to rush up stairway to pad six, Haborym squad, as
their commanding officer shouted hoarsely hanging off of a tilt-rotor
and standing on the skid. It had been a fairly innovative and useful
design but it was not the cutting edge of what the military had in
their possession. Its body had been painted black with Juno stencils
showing its designation in white. Housing three primary weapons, the
tilt-rotor's left wing kept a massive Vulcan cannon beneath it while
the right held a broad case of missile pods under its own. The chin
of the tilt-rotor had two long barrels on a mount that enabled
rotation to any direction. The barrels had thick, armored hoses that
connected to a recessed pair of openings. The weapons had been
dressed up, like all the other tilt-rotors. Haborym squad's paint-job
had been stylized with the face of an angry man on the left side of
its body that resembled no-one. Upon the right there was the face of
some vicious, feline creature was upon the right. Upon the from of
the craft a serpent had been painted, maw open around the
chin-mounted weapon while its body curled around the length of the
aircraft and terminated at the tail of the craft.
"GO, GO, GO, WE ARE
IN THE AIR IN SIX SECONDS, GET YOUR ASSES IN GEAR! MOVE!" he
yelled even as Ash and Phoenix made it to the tilt-rotor and climbed
in to strap themselves into their harnesses. "BAKER, YOU ARE
CLEAR, LIFTOFF!"
"Where are we
headed?" shouted Martin, just loud enough to be heard over the
engines spinning up.
"We are to sweep and
retrieve all firearms from Oscar-Sierra-Zero-Five. Straight up the
chain of command!" the CO responded.
Their CO, Devon Green, did
not begin to climb into the aircraft until the skids had left the
landing pad. The soldiers stomachs collective lurched as the vehicle
took swiftly to the air, climbing high before the wings at either
side began to rotate forward and send them on the path to their
destination. Outlying Settlement Zero-Five, one of the many clusters
of structures that still stood in the outer range of Espher's full
breadth. They were hardly ballsy enough to try and attack Espher.
Even if they had the weapons they did not have the sheer amount of
people needed to get past the fourth gate into the city.
"Sounds a bit off, we
sure that Zero-Five has firearms?" Smith inquired, leaning
toward the CO.
"Intel says that they
have been procuring firearms from the caravans that go between the
settlements."
"For what? They
couldn't put a dent in us." Smith responded, tilting his head.
"Raiders?"
Watanabe offered, looking toward Smith and then the CO.
"Not this close to
Espher. They're far out there but the raiders wouldn't do shit to
them when they can see The Ob' from the settlement itself!"
Cortez interjected.
"Some kind of civil
war between the settlements?" O'Neil offered but the look he
received from everyone made him hunch and try to shrink into his
seat.
"The reason is
irrelevant, we are in the business of following orders! We have
received orders and we are following them, questioning them will
fast-track you to a life in The Gutter's outstanding military."
Their CO yelled, ceasing the discussion.
The Gutter had no
military, at least not for very long. Initially there were small
groups who operated gates and watched the ins-and-outs of the city
and more importantly all the ways upward. The soldiers stationed
there had been executed and left on display, the Obelisk's neglectful
eyes had no video of just what happened. Every soldier stationed
there since then had somehow met a painful end, punctuating the
statement where The Gutter declared just how much they hated
everything above The Cloud, and even some who weren't. It had led to
being a post for soldiers put in disciplinary positions to teach them
whatever lesson command had expected them to have already learned.
Before the reserve was tapped for military action Ash and Phoenix
were not strangers to passing through the streets of the gutter,
rarely finding reason enough to stop. Still, it was always worth it
when they could save lives by culling the psychopaths that tended to
come out of the woodwork every so often.
"Baker! E-T-A!"
CO Green shouted to the cockpit.
"We are within range
in two mikes!" he responded, his bulky helmet covering his head
with wires and various connected to matrices of ports that gave him
full awareness and ability to fly (and fight) in the machine as if it
were his own body.
"Give me a warning
when we've got one mike to go!" Green yelled back and regarded
each of the men in their battle-armor with their assault rifles
housing caseless ammunition.
"Sir, are we
expecting resistance?" Phoenix inquired.
"Negative,
Stonewright, command says this is a straight search-and-confiscate
operation."
"What happens if they
see us coming and fear we're going to destroy them?"
"Did you really just
ask that question?" Ash said with a mild bit of surprise. It was
pretty clear what would happen.
"Shit happens, you
know things can turn into a clusterfuck if even one damn round is
fired!" Phoenix barked, his hand moving to emphasize his words.
"Don't pretend to be
so naive, you're not a complete idiot or I'd have ditched you a
long--" Ash was responding before being cut off.
"Scarborough,
Stonewright, stow the bullshit for when you go back on reserve,
you'll have plenty of time to talk there, now shut the hell up and
get focused! We will respond to any threat of force with a show of
equal or greater force. We do not flinch in the face of any danger,
we are soldiers and we don't back down!" CO Green shouted,
shutting down the conversation.
"CO!" Baker
yelled from the cockpit "We are E-T-A one mike!"
"Acknowledged!"
"Say again, command?"
Baker spoke, his head turning toward the front, his words hard to
hear from the bay where the soldiers were strapped in. "Confirming
Sierra-Echo, Command? Understood! Altering mission parameters."
Baker turned to look at CO Green and half of the soldiers in the bay
that could actually see them from where they were secured.
"Don't be in a rush
to fill us in, Baker!" Green shouted "We love the suspense!
Relay that change in orders to me!"
"We are Sierra-Echo
on Oscar-Sierra-Zero-Five. Straight down the chain, we now have a hot
L-Z, I am disengaging the safety locks on all weapons as commanded,
sir!" Baker spoke as the Vulcan cycled a few times and the
missile pods began to click and spread slightly apart.
"How the hell did we
go from search-and-procure to kill the fuck out of everything in one
and-a-half fucking minutes?" Ash shouted toward CO Green.
"I don't know,
Scarborough, but we -will- follow orders. They may have been scoped
by another tilt-rotor that passed within range and be preparing an
ambush. We're going into a combat zone, make no mistake! Eliminate
any and all threats!" Green replied, sounding pleased with the
change in orders.
Ash and Phoenix looked at
one another with similarly confused expressions before looking back
to CO Green. He had a grin forming on his face-- but some men just
loved the feel of battle. The fact that his body-armor was likely
beginning to inject stims into his system was also likely reason. Ash
released the magazine from his rifle and looked in it before slotting
it back in position and re-gripping at an angle more ready to respond
to incoming fire. There was not much the people could really do to
warrant such a retaliation. Sierra-Echo, Scorched Earth, meant the
entire razing of the settlement and leaving it to burn for days,
leaving only ashes. It was hardly something he or Phoenix could
rationalize although no one else really seemed to care as much-or
they didn't manage to show it if they did.
"Visual confirmation,
Oscar-Sierra-Zero-Five, altering course to lay down a strafing run
and then provide covering fire as you rope out, Haborym Squad."
Baker shouted as the craft angled sharply and and angled downward.
The soldiers all braced themselves in expectation of incoming fire.
The tilt-rotor soared down like an angry hawk, closing the distance
in seconds. The whine of the Vulcan spinning up drew Ash's attention
and he watched as the barrels cycled. Baker yelled out something Ash
couldn't make out while next to the Vulcan but it quickly began to
pour bullets down into the settlement. Ash risked leaning out to look
at the settlement but he could see nothing that resembled even a
moderate threat. As the rounds began to stitch across the dry,
cracked earth he saw bodies blown apart as if being cleaved in half
by some massive blade. The bullets that did not hit anyone were easy
to forget about as the pods on the right wing as the caps upon them
began to eject and fly away in the decent. Bright flares of light
followed by a loud hiss was all he heard as the missiles soared ahead
and arced in the air. The aircraft began to pull into an upward turn
and Ash turned to the right with all the rest of the soldiers and
watched as the missiles split apart and exploded, throwing untold
amounts of shrapnel in large bursts. Phoenix saw a man turn to run
but he was quickly shredded by steel fragments whickering through the
air.
The lights above the doors
on either side of the tilt-rotor went from a quiet red to a bright
green as the tilt-rotor was maneuvered into drop position, the Vulcan
laying out arcs of covering fire while the barrels mounted at the
chin of the craft began to spray enormous gouts of flame across the
rear of the settlement, cooking people alive, burning up the oxygen
before they could use it to scream. Flaming bodies fled in all
directions, tripping and falling or rolling in attempts to just put
the flames out. Those who could scream were already doing so even
before the soldiers freed themselves and hopped off the skids, riding
down lengths of rope as if in free-fall only to have their harnesses
automatically slow them almost to a complete halt a few feet above
the ground. The soldiers unhooked their harnesses and dropped to the
ground. The squad dashed in toward the walls of the settlement. It
was not particularly large but it would still be extremely risky to
try and handle if there were opposition that were waiting to ambush
them.
The tilt-rotor overhead
began to circle, cutting arcs through the settlement and perforating
buildings and people just the same. Ash was hunting for any sign of
resistance or hostility but every body he saw was dead, dying, or
running for some sort merciful cover from the fire. In the rear of
the settlement some flammable container exploded and sent a
hard-thumping explosion across the settlement and into the diaphragms
of the soldiers who were stalking in with their weapons at their
shoulders. A few minor explosions followed before a stream of people
fled from a building that was soon demolished by a solid strike by a
missile. Debris shot outward and knocked several of the fleeing
people to to the floor, mostly the children. Ash furiously searched
for some threat, some sign of intent to retaliate, seeking a logical
reason the settlement was being torn to pieces.
"CO... I... I'm not
seeing any hostiles, sir." Ash spoke, feeling the adrenaline
charging through him and completely welcoming the sensation... if
only he could find a reason.
"They are -all-
hostiles, Scarborough, take your shots!" CO Green shouted at
Ash. It was not a second later that others in the squad began to
fire. The targets were clearly being picked off in terms of threat
level, men were being shot and sent to the ground, a few women caught
in the fire either by accident or deliberate intent among the
soldiers. The CO's teeth were set tight in a vicious grin as he fired
out bursts of ammunition at the people pouring forth from buildings.
It was not until minutes after the firefight had begun that Ash saw
anyone carrying a weapon and the first was a man brandishing an axe
better used upon wood. He was taken down by eight shots nearly in
complete unison, his head gone in a mess of gore and holes shot
through his chest before he fell to ground, twitching, while blood
poured generously into the hungry earth.
Sweeping for targets, CO
Green suddenly jerked back, hissing as the impact of solid rounds
dissipated across his armor and removed his grin from his face. He
began to rapidly search for anyone in his line of sight, the barrel
of a rifle, a glint off of a scope, a puff of smoke lingering in the
air, a shell casing hitting the ground, anything. He did not find
what he was looking for and it seemed that whoever had shot him had
either given up or moved somewhere else. The sound of the fight was
deafening but among the explosions and gunfire all that Ash could
focus on were the screams of those being cut down needlessly. Finally
the sounds of opposing fire began to surface and it brought Ash back
to focus instead of staring with eyes gone blurry. "Three
o'clock high!" someone in the squad shouted and Ash snapped his
rifle to the exact direction, hunting down the sights for targets. It
was slightly hard to make out but there was half-destroyed building
of three stories and in the shadows cast by the sun they had managed
to sneak into a fairly well bit of defensive cover.
Shots were exchanged back
and forth, rounds bounding off shoulder armor or helmets, sending the
aim of soldiers wide or too high as they felt the impacts. As the
squad began to focus their fire there was a heavy crack in the air
and a faint tingle all around. O'Neil staggered backward, looking
down at his chest and found a steel bar sticking out of his chest. It
was just as far out of his back, as well. He gasped and tried to find
words as he fought for balance but a well aimed shot went right
between the armored collar on his body armor and his helmet, tearing
his throat out and sending him to the ground. Upon impact the steel
bar buried itself in the earth under him and he tried to cover his
throat with his hands in some vain hope that the wound was something
less than lethal. Ash and Phoenix stared at O'Neil as he looked
around, gurgling and gasping, making mortifying sounds as his life
was slipping away from him. His hand reached desperately toward
Phoenix as if he could somehow help to save him but Phoenix shook his
head slowly with an apologetic look on his face before he turned back
and began to fire at the hostiles taking cover in the remnants of the
building. Another arc of gunfire from the tilt-rotor crawled across
the settlement but largely did nothing else.
CO Green was the first to
capitalize on the angle O'Neil had been struck from immediately after
changing out his empty magazine for a full one. Three rounds sank
into the gunman's face and sent him down limp. Going onto the
offensive, the squad collectively began to push back the hostiles,
working their way into the settlement and beginning to split up. Ash
and Phoenix, together as always, ran with Watanabe, checking corners
and buildings for any signs of resistance. Out of nowhere that same
crack pierced the are amid the gunfire and Watanabe was instantly
nailed against a concrete wall. Held fast by the length of steel sent
through the side of his head his body twitched and went into spasms
as his body hung from his head. The angle of the shot arrived in
Phoenix's head before the horror of the sight did and he quickly
turned to empty his magazine into the side of an ancient motor
vehicle, punching holes through it in hope that he might wound or
outright kill whatever the hell was sending these lengths of steel at
them, it went through their body armor effortlessly, it seemed. Ash
shouted and cursed as he stumbled upon Watanabe and ducked as he saw
Phoenix do the same.
“What the fuck is
that!?” Phoenix shouted, ejecting his spent magazine and fumbling
in a pouch at his side for a new magazine.
“I don't know! For fucks
sake it's just shooting steel bars, they're not even fucking sharp!”
Ash replied as he had the fortunate position of being able to see the
bar on the other side of the wall where Watanabe hanged.
“Where the hell do they
get a weapon like that?”
“Espher.”
“You sure it couldn't be
improvised?”
“No, there's not shit
here they could have to make something like that.”
“But they still have
it!”
“They had to have gotten
it from Espher.”
“That would make the
most sense.”
Maybe someone in intel had
caught wind of some black market sale of such a weapon, that made the
initial moments of the battle much easier to stomach even as he heard
the weapon fire again. Whoever was firing it was moving fast,
changing positions immediately after firing or even firing on the
move-- but that seemed a bit ridiculous. He had heard of weapons that
used magnetism to fire metal projectiles but he couldn't imagine
anyone making one unless they were connected in Espher in some
degree. Perhaps it had been stolen somehow or maybe someone had
actually managed to rig one together out of junk found in the
outlying settlements.
“You ready to move?”
Phoenix asked, looking at Ash.
“Yea, just... I'm taking
a mag from Watanabe, you should too.”
“Good idea... damnit,
I'm sorry, man...” Phoenix muttered at the dead body of Watanabe
“As soon as it fires
again we're moving.”
As if on command the crack
burst into the air again and the clarity of it made Ash realize how
little gunfire there was now. Distantly someone was screaming but he
could not be sure who it was or what side of the battle lines they
were from. Ash and Phoenix dashed down an alley between ruined
concrete buildings and came to a fork in the path. Phoenix
instinctively went right and Ash followed, watching behind them as
they moved. His back collided with Phoenix's own and he turned around
in surprise.
“I hate this.” Phoenix
admitted, shaking his head.
Ash turned to look in
front of Phoenix to find what had clearly been a little girl before
shrapnel had rendered half of her into a crimson mess that pooled
around her and soaked through her dirty clothing. He held in his
words but was no less disgusted.
“Fuck, just-- just go
back, go the other way.”
“Yea.”
Ash and Phoenix turned
around and jogged their way down the alley as gunfire continued to
pop intermittently amidst the mostly silent settlement. A majority of
the noise was the crackle of flames burning man and structure alike.
Moving down the alternate path in the alleyway Ash brought his sights
up and swept the large open area of what was likely a small market
before missiles and bullets had torn it all to hell. Looking back to
Phoenix, Ash nodded his head and broke into a sprint across the open
area as Phoenix angled his rifle around the corner, looking for any
sign of movement in the light of the setting sun. Nothing. Ash
brought his rifle up in a similar manner to allow Phoenix to break
across the open area and then duck into cover with him. As the ache
in Ash's muscles began to surface his armor was already on the task.
A faint prick into his arm and he was almost instantly able to ignore
the pain as his armor injected the stims into his blood.
“How many do you think
are left?” Phoenix asked.
“What?”
“How many of us do you
think are still alive?”
“Fucking hell, don't go
asking shit like that.”
'What? Why?”
“Because it's fucking
depressing!”
“And watching all those
people burn to death wasn't?”
“I--” Ash began but
the crack entered the air again and they both instinctively ducked.
“How the -fuck- have we
not found him yet?”
“I don't know but I'm
getting really fucking sick of this.”
“Come on, we gotta move,
see if we can't find this son of a bitch.”
Running along between
ruined and burning buildings (as well as corpses) Ash and Phoenix
passed a building where they heard the gasps of others. Stopping
instantly they flanked the half-covered doorway and listened. They
could hear the breath of at least three people as they panted and did
their best to remain silent. Phoenix reached up and turned the light
mounted on the side of his right on, kicking the door in and sweeping
madly. Ash was right behind him but what they saw was nothing they
wished to ever see again. Three children were clinging desperately to
the corpse of what was likely their mother before a bullet went
through her head. Two little girls shuddered and recoiled in horror,
gripping their mother tightly for the fading sense of security it
might bring. The little boy looked around franticly before diving
into the next room. Phoenix moved to follow but Ash placed a hand on
his shoulder, halting him.
