by Jeff Kirvin
Then someone blew a hole in the east wall, and Heinrich's hopes for a peaceful resolution to the conflict were dashed.
He'd rushed with the other guardsmen to the conflict, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw. Dozens of bodies lay on the floor and there was blood on most of the walls. Just before Heinrich turned a corner, the man in front of him disintegrated in an explosion of gore.
Heinrich turned and ran. He didn't think of himself as a coward. He was falling back to a more defensible position. Yes, that was it.
He ran so fast, he didn't see the angel until it was too late. He slammed into the hulking metal armor and caromed into the wall. The angel stopped, reached down and picked him up.
"Thank you, my Lo—"
"Where are you going?” the angel demanded. “You are a Guardsman, are you not?"
Heinrich nodded feebly. His knees had turned to rubber.
"The fight is that way!” the angel shouted, half throwing, half shoving Heinrich back the way he came.
Heinrich was at a loss. He didn't want to disobey an angel, but what he'd seen...
"Go!” the angel commanded.
Heinrich went.
Everything will be fine, he thought as he grew closer to the sounds of combat. I'm well armed, highly trained, and God is on my side...
Heinrich's next step took him into the path of a grenade meant for an angel, and he never knew what hit him.
The storming of Heaven was slow and bloody going.
By dawn, Daniel and his troops were completely inside the massive complex and had taken out dozens of angels and more human cannon fodder than they cared to count. It had cost them nearly a third of their force. Michael's pincer movement had been defeated by the Underground's rear echelon, but at a terrible sacrifice. Their invasion finally complete, a significantly smaller assault force found themselves inside the home of the enemy.
Once inside, the resistance split and followed predefined routes Daniel had mapped out for them in advance. The going was easier then, but it remained a bloody, foot by foot fight as territory was gained and grudgingly held.
That didn't concern Daniel. He, Jack and an elite strike force cut through the angelic opposition with no thought of holding the territory they passed through.
Daniel had bigger fish to fry.
Turning the Tide
Around the world, the human forces fought for more than just their lives. In China and India, the Underground overwhelmed the angels by sheer weight of numbers. In Europe, the angels fell prey to dazzling cooperative tactics staged by people who had previously been at war with each other for centuries. South and Central America saw displays of ferocity not witnessed since the time of the Aztecs and Incas.
Bit by bit, the angels fell.
Daniel was so near his goal he could taste it, but the opposition was getting tougher.
Daniel, Jack and the others were roughly two hundred meters away from Michael's throne room. It may as well have been two hundred miles. Only one corridor led to the massive chamber, and that corridor was filled with armored angels, led by Azrael himself. The angels had opened fire with a furious onslaught of firepower the moment Daniel came into view, forcing the rebels into a side corridor.
"I get the impression Michael doesn't want to see us,” Jack observed.
Daniel managed a grim smile through his faceplate. “Noticed that, did you?"
Daniel hazarded another peek around the corner, prompting another barrage of missiles. The unguided projectiles missed and impacted on the wall at the end of the corridor.
"At least they aren't coming to get us,” Daniel said. “I'll bet they have strict orders not to leave Michael's door."
He turned to Jack. “Any thoughts on how to use that to our advantage?"
Jack shrugged. “Logistically, they're sitting ducks. We have them pinned down in a closed area where they can neither advance nor retreat. We have them right where we want them."
"Except that the instant we poke our heads around this corner and attack, we get blown into a million pieces,” Daniel said.
Jack smiled. “No battlefield situation is without its flaws."
Daniel stopped to think for a moment. “How long do you think you guys can keep them occupied?"
"Doesn't look like they're going anywhere. Why?"
Daniel stood up and looked down the corridor they were in, away from Azrael's troops. “Because I just remembered there is another way into Michael's throne room. It has a big bay window, and I can fly."
Any hint of mirth disappeared from Jack's face. “You can't be serious. He could have just as many armored angels inside as out here. They'd tear you apart."
Daniel started to walk down the corridor. “That's a chance I'm going to have to take. Keep them busy, and don't let on that I'm gone. With any luck, I'll be able to take them from behind when I'm done with Michael."
Jack shot Daniel a look, but didn't argue with his superior officer. “Yes, sir, General.
"And good luck,” he said to Daniel's retreating form.
Once Daniel had disappeared from view, Jack addressed the strike force. “What are you doing there on the floor?” he asked. “You heard the general."
With great care, the humans began firing on the angels.
Elsewhere, entire angelic strongholds began to fall.
The angels had no answer to the weakness the Underground had exploited so successfully the first time. By attacking everywhere at once, the Underground didn't allow the angels the opportunity to consolidate their forces. Small, isolated patches of angels grew steadily smaller as the fighting wore on. They took their toll in human life, of course, but it often seemed that for every human destroyed, two more took his place. The angels were losing, and the outcome of the battle became more certain by the minute.
Still, the human victories would mean little if Michael and his forces held on to Heaven.
Daniel stood on the roof of the great building, wings extended. The morning sun sat low in the sky, casting long, hazy shadows over the Los Angeles cityscape. The fighting was well inside the building now, and the city looked surprisingly peaceful.
Standing there in the stillness of the morning, Daniel took a moment to center himself, reflecting on all the events that had conspired to bring him to this place. It seemed a lifetime ago that he was just a workaholic EMT with no social life, but really it had been less than four years. Who would have guessed then that now he'd be the leader of millions, standing atop the world's center of government clad in powered armor not made by human hands, and preparing to do battle with none other than the archangel Michael?
Daniel shook his head. A stranger life I have never known, he thought to himself. He stepped to the edge of the roof. Michael's throne room was directly beneath him.
Time to embrace my destiny, he thought, then ignited his engines and took to the air.
Michael sat alone in his throne room, encased in armor and watching the course of the battle on his monitors. He'd argued with Azrael that the armor wasn't necessary, with a legion of his best troops stationed at his door, but the other angel insisted. Michael was hot and uncomfortable, but he endured.
He was also beginning to worry. He had spotted Cho some time ago in that blasphemous black armor in the corridor outside his throne room, but while Cho's fighters and Azrael's continued to exchange fire, Michael hadn't actually seen Cho in quite a while. The instant the fighting died down a bit he'd have to radio Azrael.
Over the noise of combat from his monitors, he became aware of another sound, a deep rumbling. It grew louder and louder until it drowned out everything else.
"Azrael!” Michael called, but it was too late.
With a terrible crash, Cho shattered the bullet-proof glass of the bay window and swooped into the room. He banked sharply to avoid hitting the far wall, then landed light and neat at the foot of Michael's throne.
"Now we settle this,” the human said, and trained his weapons on the leader of the world.
Apocalypse
Responding to Michael's call, Azrael and his troops burst into the throne room. They found Michael and Daniel circling each other, weapons raised and no more than six feet apart. Azrael cursed. He couldn't fire on Daniel for fear that the collateral damage would harm Michael. So the angels watched.
Shortly after the angels filed in, so did Jack and his men. The angels either didn't notice or didn't care. Jack held his fire for the same reason Azrael did, and the standoff continued. Jack activated a small video camera mounted on his left shoulder. He had a feeling Daniel would want these events broadcast.
"You may as well give up, Cho,” Michael said. “Even if you destroy me, there's no way you're making it out of this room alive. Without you, the resistance will fall, and my legacy will continue."
"That's where you're wrong,” Daniel said. “If I fall, another will take my place, then another, then another. And none of them will follow you.
"You rose to power on charisma and the fear of chaos. The people of Earth now know there are far worse things than chaos, and your charisma isn't what it used to be."
Michael scoffed. “Is that what you think?” he asked, continuing to circle Daniel warily.
"I've been the guardian of mankind for over one thousand centuries,” Michael went on. “No one knows the human race better than I do, or what's best for it. Mankind will follow me because it knows no other way.
"I can still remember when you made your first tool, or when you discovered fire. I can still speak the first human language, and I can still remember all the ancient religions. I've been present at nearly every significant event in the history of your race. I was present at the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. I was in New Mexico to see the detonation of the first atomic bomb. I sat in Mission Control during the first moon landing. I decide who wins your wars, I decide which treaties get signed, I keep the world running smoothly.
"So don't tell me mankind will simply do without me. You never have before, and you won't now."
"You've been at all the significant places in history?” Daniel asked.
"Yes."
"Nazi Germany?” Daniel asked.
Michael nodded. “For all his flaws, Hitler really understood the value of order. If only he hadn't developed that irrational hatred of the Jews. It was a very difficult decision, letting him lose the war."
"Yet you don't share his weaknesses,” Daniel said, noting the tiny red light on Jack's camera.
"No, I love the entire human race."
"And your death camps?” Daniel prompted. “Do you love the people you've ruthlessly exterminated?"
"They don't count,” Michael said. “They're defective. They drag down the gene pool. Humans can never achieve their full potential if these misfits are allowed to reproduce and pollute their genes."
"That's where you're wrong,” Daniel said, his voice hardening. “Ludwig von Beethoven was deaf, yet his music has moved and inspired millions. According to you, his existence was a mistake, and he should have been exterminated."
Michael stayed silent.
"For someone who claims to know humanity so well,” Daniel continued, “you don't understand us at all. We achieve our full potential by overcoming adversity, including biological adversity. Many of mankind's greatest specimens have had some kind of physical problem. It was overcoming that obstacle that gave them the strength of character to go on and do great things. You would deny us this. By removing those that aren't already perfect, by controlling and breeding us like farm animals, you inhibit our growth. You're trying to purify our genes at the cost of our souls."
"You sound like Satan."
"He went too far in the other direction, but he made a lot more sense than you. You're a terrible guardian, Michael, and we don't need you anymore."
With a bellow of rage, Michael lunged at Daniel. Black and white armor struck with a clang, and chaos ensued.
The instant Daniel and Michael collided, Jack opened fire on Azrael. If Daniel won his personal battle, Jack didn't want him to have to fight his way out. The first volley of fire hit the angels by surprise, and several of them went down from the impact. Jack and his men immediately dove for cover as the angels returned fire. One of Jack's men disappeared in a red mist, but the others kept firing. Two angels went down, gaping blackened holes in their armor.
And the battle continued.
Michael was stronger than Daniel had expected.
The armor made them more or less equally matched in terms of leverage and firepower, but Michael remained standing through some exchanges that would at the very least have knocked Daniel down.
Michael took a swing at Daniel, who ducked as the powerful armored arm arced over his head. Daniel took advantage of his position to leap up and forward, ramming his shoulder into Michael's midsection. The angel staggered back, then regained his composure.
"You can't win, Cho,” he shouted over the explosions of their fighting troops. “Believe me, I've seen your kind come and go a million times!"
"Maybe,” Daniel answered. He noticed that Michael was standing directly between him and the broken bay window.
"Maybe not!” he shouted as he ignited his rockets and charged. He slammed into Michael's chest, picked him up, and carried both of them out the window and into the morning sunlight.
Jack was actually starting to believe this could work.
He was down to three of his men other than himself, and everything in the room had been reduced to rubble (including the floor in some places), but the angelic opposition was down to only Azrael and two others, all heavily damaged.
"Throw down your weapons, humans,” Azrael shouted, “and we might let you live."
Jack poked his head out from behind the remains of Michael's throne, which he'd been using for cover. “You don't exactly look like someone in the position to make such an ultimatum,” he shouted.
Azrael answered with a rocket, which, if Jack's count based on Daniel's armor was correct, should have been his last one. The weapon detonated harmlessly on the wall behind Jack, and Jack gave the signal to his men for a blast of simultaneous fire.
On cue, four humans popped up from their hiding places and opened fire. One of the angels returned fire, killing the man to Jack's right. The four grenades launched by the humans hit their targets, and all three angels went down. Only Azrael managed to struggle back to his feet.
Jack stepped out from behind the ruined throne and walked slowly towards his adversary. Azrael raised his rocket launcher towards Jack.
"Don't bother,” Jack said. “You and I both know you're out."
Azrael shrugged, then launched his final rocket.
Jack dropped to the floor just in time to feel the heat of the rocket's exhaust on his back. He then heard two explosions in quick succession, one behind him and one in front. When he looked up, the Angel of Death was gone and smoke slowly curled from the barrel of the man to his left.
It was all up to Daniel now.
Two metal titans clashed in the skies over Los Angeles.
Held aloft by back mounted wings and rockets, the two figures, one black, one white, dived and banked and collided in midair, only to separate and do it again.
"Curse you, Cho, fall!” Michael screamed.
Daniel answered by falling back and launching a rocket, which Michael only barely avoided.
Daniel reversed direction and charged Michael once more. The angel made no move to dodge, and instead met Daniel head-on. The collision could be heard from the ground, even over their rockets, and both combatants, man and angel, were visibly shaken.
Daniel recovered first and quickly ducked under Michael's field of vision.
Michael shook it off and looked for his enemy. “You can't hide from me up here, Cho!” he shouted.
"Don't intend to,” said a voice very close by and behind him.
Before Michael could turn around, Daniel seized one of the angel's metal wings and ripped it away from the suit of armor. Michael began t
o spin out of control. Before he really knew what was going on, the angel was spiraling rapidly towards the ground. Daniel followed with much more grace and control.
Michael survived the impact with the ground, landing in a vacant lot, but he didn't land well. His right leg and arm were both shattered, and though they began to heal almost immediately, they'd be quite useless for a few minutes.
Daniel had no intention of giving him that long.
Daniel landed a few meters away from Michael's struggling form and trained his remaining rockets on him.
"It's over, Michael,” he said.
"NEVER!” the angel screamed, and loosed all his remaining rockets against Daniel. Daniel backpedaled furiously, but he couldn't evade all of the massive barrage. Three of the rockets impacted squarely on his armor, and he fell to the ground.
The diagnostic readouts in his helmet told him more than he really wanted to know. The armor's power was down to nearly ten percent, barely enough to move its own massive bulk. Most of the armor plating was weakened to the point of uselessness, and on top of all that, Daniel's right leg was broken.
As Daniel tried to sit up, he noticed Michael was already getting to his feet. With the condition of Daniel's armor, the angel could easily tear him apart with his bare hands. Daniel couldn't give Michael the opportunity, but he only had two rockets left. He had to make them count.
Still sitting and dragging his broken leg, Daniel began to pull himself backwards, away from Michael.
Michael shook his armored head. “Oh, no you don't,” he said. On his good leg, he began to lurch after Daniel.
"What were you saying about it being over?” Michael taunted.
Daniel said nothing, but continued to pull himself away from the approaching angel. Closer, you arrogant son of a bitch, he thought. Come closer.
"You thought you knew so much,” Michael continued. “You had the incredible audacity to believe you knew better than I what was best for the human race. Pathetic.