There in front was a smaller crowd of people. By the look on Ana's face though, these weren't average citizens. They looked haggard, almost like they were patients under medical care. One of them wasn't dressed the same though. She was in battle armor, but more regal looking.
Ana swallowed hard. She glanced to me and nodded toward the woman. “Charista.”
Chapter 43 (Ana)
E ver since I left Lebabolis, I'd thought about this moment for a long time: Me and her face to face again.
My mind was a jumble of questions and things I wanted to say to her. I wondered if she ever knew what it was like: having your family taken from you and later finding out they weren’t your real family to begin with. Oh, and finding out who your father is as he died in your arms.
Charista was the reason I and so many others were on the run. When I had played this meeting out in my mind so many times in the past, it was always the two of us. She attempted an explanation of why everything happened like it did. I shut her down, and the two of us fought to the death.
I never pictured it like this.
We sat in the Landcrawler. My gut tightened as I deliberated over what the move was. Her troops stood behind her, weapons down but they all looked braced for a quick assault. If they go for us, Zengus can floor this thing and we can at least nail a few before booking outta here.
Baudricort still influenced my strategic mind from the beyond.
Charista's voice crackled over our comm unit. “I know you can hear me, Ana. We need to talk.”
I tapped a reply. “Before or after you wipe us out?”
She scoffed. “We could've done that any time we wanted, and you know that.”
I narrowed my eyes at her through our windshield. “Alright, I'm listening. You wanna threaten us or are you gonna make a point anytime soon?”
She whispered to one of the others next to her, and they took off. “I am. I want to know what you have about Cataclysm.”
I eyed Nelson for a second. “We found it. Well, should say Baudricort did.”
“Did he now? How is he?”
“He’s dead.”
Her face changed. “Baudricort is... dead?”
I nodded.
She took a slow breath. Her eyes cast downward, and I thought I saw a hint of moisture there. If I were stupid I’d think she actually cared for Baudricort from this little show. “He believed in his work and gave us so much.” Her eyes found mine. “But he was a crusader. He refused to believe we needed a shield, not just more tools.”
“Cataclysm doesn’t sound like a shield to me.”
She shrugged. “Sometimes, dear Ana, you’ll find that the only way to settle aggression is with the right amount of deterrent. That is, if you ever want to be responsible for more than yourself.”
My voice quavered. “Like my brother? Look, we all know how you handle people. I’m here for a truce, if you’re willing to listen.”
“Continue.”
“We know where Cataclysm is hidden. I can show you. We’re trying to get to the Range, as I’m sure you know. If you free our people, and provide us all safe passage, I’ll lead you right to Cataclysm, and you can do what you want with it then.”
She grinned. “I’m sure you’ll do me the courtesy of giving me proof.”
“I can and I will.”
“Well, that is a very interesting proposition. We do have a more pressing matter right now, however.”
“Like what?”
“Before we set out for Cataclysm, we need to take care of the Omegans bearing down on us. They want revenge, and we can’t send anyone on a retrieval mission just yet.”
“How many Omegans are we talking about?”
“We've seen scout groups, small units around, like the one you ran into at our border a little while ago. But we're also tracking a much larger force, headed for our Realignment facilities.”
“We’re a little short on numbers now. Can’t you deal with them?”
“We’re putting the Capital in a lock down mode; I need some troops for the Garrison there. But if you can help me out with support, I’m sure you can spare a few Hell Hawks you’ve stolen from us over the years.”
I squinted at her. “Why, don’t you have enough of your own?”
“Ana, I’d rather know you’re as invested in this agreement as possible. Human collateral always works better than promises.”
We traded glances for a bit. “I’ll get with Llewyn on that. But after all this, and after you get your Cataclysm, I need to know you'll leave us be for good.”
“Of course,” she replied. “As soon as the threat from the Omegans is neutralized, you'll no longer be a target of interest, none of you.”
I rubbed my temples and glared at her. “One more thing. Cure ‘em.”
“I'm sorry?”
“The Pox. Treat ‘em all, or no deal. I know you can, and so do you.”
She thought on it for a moment, then shook her head rapidly. “No. No, it's too costly. We don’t have enough re-”
“-figure it out. You can do it. You better, or no deal.”
She frowned a bit, turning to talk to a few people nearby her. Advisors, I guessed. She looked back at me as a smile formed. “Sure, Ana. You've got a deal.”
“Excellent. We should shake on this.”
“Of course. Come out, and I'll have Nycole tell you everything else we know.”
Chapter 44 (Nelson)
A fter a lot of discussion, Ana and Charista came to an agreement. From our Landcrawler, we watched the Lebabolis troops, which separated into two smaller units, one of them lined up with us.
Ana stared at the troops as they reorganized. “Am I doing right?”
“What?”
“Trusting these people? Trusting her?”
I watched Charista as she oversaw things with her troops. “If they wanted to crush us, we’d be dead already.”
My eyes met Ana's. Her brow crinkled in thought, she asked, “Is that your prophecy, Xander?”
I grimaced. “Stop calling me that. And no, I don’t know. Anything I can think of now is nothing more than hunches and instinct.” I drummed the seat back in front of me. Even if this was my story, I hadn't written it yet.
“Guess we'll play along. I agree, though, can't see how they'd lure us in and not capture us or shoot at us if there wasn't more going on.”
We moved down Lebabolis roads toward Sector 5 and the Realignment Facility. We passed through more collections of buildings with no people around. Speakers scattered about all blared an emergency announcement for evacuation toward the Lebabolis Capital.
After a few hours’ drive, I found myself on a familiar path as each rubble filled street we walked turned and gave way to that familiar site where Ana had first rescued me. As we passed Jackson Square, I noticed Nycole beside Ana and me.
“We meet again,” I said.
She looked at me for a moment and smiled faintly. “Oh, Mr. Forrester. Hello.”
“Thanks for not abducting me this time.”
Her eyes went back to the road, but she managed a “Sure.”
We headed into the Realignment facility, a large three story building near the Mississippi River. Well, whatever sorry excuse for a river it was. All those centuries had not been kind. I shook my head at the river of thick grime with a rainbow of dark hues that swirled past me. And they thought pollution was bad back then.
The inside of the facility looked like a hospital. Very white and well lit. A few small windows provided the only natural light in the place. The main area was fairly large and quickly swallowed up our group.
As everyone filed in, we went into a large room for a briefing. Ana and Nycole stood at the front with a large screen behind them.
Ana said, “The Action and Lebabolis are in a pact. In return for our assistance in fighting off the Omegan assault, we're granted freedom from Lebabolis and the right to set up our own nation.”
The large screen displayed the strange symbol fro
m those crafts we had seen back at the Verge.
Nycole said, “This is our enemy. The Omegans. The last time we faced them years ago, we had luck on our side with Cataclysm. But today, we don’t. We’ll need to be strong on our own and turn them back. We’re all that stands in their way. They want our Valentium and they want us and everyone else like us dead. If we don’t stop them here, they’ll march on to the Capital.”
The video screen flashed pictures of their troops and aircraft like the one we had seen at the Verge.
A murmur rippled through the crowd with shouts of defiance. Ana glanced at Nycole, and they both smiled.
“That's why we're here,” Nycole said.
“We're a team, and we fight together,” Ana added.
“We're going to canvas the building. Seal every entrance, put units on the roof,” Nycole said. “We've got air support, but not unlimited. Not sure what they'll be bringing our way, so we need to hold this ground. At all costs.”
“We will!” Ana cried out, her arms outstretched.
"We will!" came the crowd’s response.
Chapter 45 (Ana)
A fter the roof and entrances were fortified, we went outside again and set up a perimeter. The rubble provided a few spots for observation. We surrounded the building with a large circle of positions.
I watched the Radomet and Lebabolis troops side by side with us and shook my head. How had we gone so far to wind up back with them like this? What would Baudricort have said or thought? I hated that we were in with these people, and worse, that our options were so limited.
I still had no sign or idea of what or from where the attack was expected, but everything we planned was almost ready. Nycole went with a few troops up several floors in nearby building for extra eyes up top and long range shooters.
I leaned against a pile of rubble and watched the others while they finished setting up their gear. I spotted Nelson as he trotted toward me.
“Must be extra weird for you, being right back here,” I said.
He marveled at the sight and almost chuckled, but it came out as light coughs. “Ain't quite the Big Easy anymore, but least I'm trying to defend it.”
I patted his back. “Gonna be OK. We’ll take care of these bastards and get everyone away from here soon.” I reached for one of the rifles in the position and handed it to him. “Here, in case you need it. Remember, the sight’s in the middle if they're more than twenty feet away.”
He checked the rifle over. Either he had picked up this soldiering thing, or he faked it really well.
Several birds announced their presence with random squawks overhead. A large group of ‘em soared almost right over us, headed off towards the way we came in.
“That can't be good,” Nelson said.
I activated my rifle and grabbed my comm unit. “See anything, eyes in the sky?”
Nycole replied, “Negative. Bunch of birds coming through, that's it.”
“Well, keep watching.”
I stretched with the rifle for balance. The daylight faded a bit as the sun sank lower in the sky. After a few minutes, I jumped up and made a pass around the positions. Everyone looked ready for action. Treg held the northernmost spot, Norg had the southernmost. Llewyn woulda freaked if he saw me in the line of everything instead of in the rear, but that wasn't me. I wasn’t one who led people from behind.
I returned to my position and crouched down next to Nelson.
“So the deal is,” I told him, “if they attack from one side, we keep close contact and support ‘em if needed. We don't run toward the fight, though, since they may try a flank.”
“And if they attack from more than one side?”
“Anything that shoots at you, blow it the hell away. We got heavy artillery on the roof too, but they gotta pick their shots so we don’t get wasted.”
Nycole's frantic voice burst through the comm unit speaker. “Enemy spotted, enemy spotted!”
I heard the faint sound of engines, but saw nothing around. I craned my neck over, but saw nothing. “Position?” I replied.
“Overhead!”
#
Treg's group fired on the ships first. I aimed my rifle, but I froze as I counted ‘em: at least fifteen ships.
They swirled in a circular pattern. Everyone fired at will. The ships responded with a pummeling barrage of fire. Loud thuds shook the ground every time one of their cannon fired. My chest pounded with each blast.
“Aim for their engines!” I bellowed to those nearby.
A blast knocked me down. I dusted myself off and saw Nelson, down low as he fired his rifle.
“You OK?”
He glanced at me, then looked back to the fight without a word, except he managed a thumbs up. Alright, Nelson. May make you a soldier yet.
Several large objects separated from the ships above with loud clanging noises. The smaller objects lowered to the ground around fifty feet outside our perimeter.
“Blast those things!” I yelled over the comm. “Nycole, fry 'em!”
We fired on ‘em but the shots glanced off, and whatever they were, they landed. The ships above stopped their barrage for the moment. We kept up our volleys at ‘em and sent a few shots toward whatever was on the ground with us now. The smoke from shots and fires around the area clouded my vision, but it looked like the objects on the ground had changed shape.
“Treg!” I called on the comm. “You seeing those things over there?”
“Check,” he responded. “Whatever they are, they’re heavy-”
One of the objects opened fire on Treg's spot, and it burst into a brilliant white glow.
“Treg!” I yelled and lunged toward him, but someone held me back. I turned and saw Nelson, his hand on my shoulder.
“Get down! They’ll incinerate you!” he yelled.
My heart pounded when I saw what was left of Treg's position. The objects on the ground spread out and fired more shots at us randomly. They looked like heavily armored tanks.
The air filled with the burnt smell of engine exhaust. I nodded at Nelson. “We gotta get out of this hole, or we're done.” The other positions around our group still returned fire, but another one of ‘em burst into flames as I watched.
One tank headed in our direction. I turned to everyone in our position. “Move out, now! Follow me!”
I sprinted towards the Realignment facility. Several transport trucks lined up near the front as part of the barricade. I turned and fired a bit as I ran and saw Nelson and the others close behind me.
“Nycole,” I gasped into the comm, “any pulse tech up high? Give us a hand!”
A few moments later, a barrage of greenish balls sprayed from Nycole's spot. When they landed on the ground, I motioned our group down to the ground. The bulbs ignited with a quick burst of light, and the tanks were motionless.
“Nice work,” Nelson said.
“Not for long. We've got about three minutes before that wears off,” I said. “Come on inside; they're attacking from the roof!”
#
We made it to the roof in minutes. Several Omegans were there already, in a skirmish with Lebabolis troops. The figures were the same color of their ships and looked like they had exo-armor. Or it was just their bodies.
Our group crouched behind ventilation ports. We were almost between the two groups. I signaled to Nelson and the others, and as one we jumped up from our secluded spot.
“Fire!” I yelled, and we unleashed a barrage from the flank that caught the Omegans by surprise. A few of ‘em fell, but more of ‘em trained their fire on us. I spotted a heavy cannon on the roof, along with what was left of the soldier who fired it. His body was badly burned and almost melted to the weapon.
We kept our barrage on the Omegans, and together with the other group on the roof we pushed ‘em back a bit. I pointed Nelson toward the big gun. As he scrambled over, I felt a white hot spear as it slammed into me. The pain ripped through my shoulder. Sensations like thousands of needles jammed into that spo
t as well as a searing burn. I landed on my back but still screamed, “Keep going!” to those around who checked on me.
A Lebabolis soldier helped me up. I touched the spot, and almost passed out from the pain. My hand came up from the wound bloody too. I gathered what strength I had left and moved as swift as possible to Nelson. He and another soldier manned the cannon. I pointed to the ships overhead. They swiveled the big gun up and fired on ‘em.
At this, the Omegans pushed up from their spot. I switched my rifle to my good arm and pointed at the Omegans on the corner of the roof.
“Push ‘em off!” I yelled and charged, my voice shredded in a wild shriek.
The Omegans shot down a few of our group, but enough of us made it. I turned my rifle and shoved myself forward into the first few Omegans, so they were knocked into the others. They stopped firing and grappled with us as we pushed ‘em back.
Their replies came as a series of hisses and semi mechanical noises. Whatever they were wasn't human.
We neared the edge of the roof, and the first few slipped off to the ground below. “Keep pushing!” I hollered as our group mustered up more strength and knocked the rest of ‘em off the roof.
A blaring horn sounded above us as the last of the Omegans slipped off the roof. I fell to my back, rifle pointed at the sky. One ship blasted a message:
"This is Commander Chun of the Omegan Empire. This facility is now under our control. You must evacuate immediately or face elimination." The ship trained its guns on the facility roof and us. "You have thirty seconds to comply."
I glanced to the others. The Lebabolis soldiers nodded to me, their weapons at the ready. The Radomet kept their wordless stances, their weapons also held fast. I saw the Action soldiers, their eyes burning with belief in the cause and now in me.
Nelson looked on me with resigned determination. He was ready.
I nodded back to all of ‘em. All at once, we fired on the large ship. Nelson launched several more barrages from the cannon. The ship swerved away from our shots, but not before it took several hits on its wings, hull, and engines.
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