"Sir, the birds are in the air. The blue dots indicate the two missiles, both carrying nuclear warheads. Estimated ETA is forty-four minutes and thirty seconds."
"Thank you, Strategos," Evan said and then addressed the crowd.
"They managed to take out Legacy, our capital. We shall avenge it by taking out theirs. Buchanan will be nothing but a smoking, radioactive ruin once we are done with it." Cheers erupted, and Evan walked over to a corner. He needed to think.
Unfortunately, First Janissary Ivanov followed him. Evan turned toward him.
"Problems up north?" he said. Ivanov shook his head.
"None so far, sir. But I need to talk to you." Evan motioned for him to go on.
"I´ve had people tracking former Janissary Tacticus Susan Atlas. That woman is trouble, even after the doctors shot her up with Bliss. I´m sure you heard she escaped." Evan nodded, waiting for the First Janissary to continue.
"She has joined up with David Wagner in Buchanan," Ivanov continued. "He´s another one of those blasted kids from Charlestown. Wagner led the evacuation of a research facility in the mountains west of Buchanan City. The facility blew itself up, nuclear, just as a team from the Luna Brigade was about to enter." Ivanov hesitated, and Evan once again had to push for the First Janissary to cut to the chase.
"There´s a space ship of some kind, an oversized shuttle, standing right where they are," Ivanov said.
"Do you think," Evan began, and Ivanov nodded.
"Definitely. From what we can see, the technology is so far beyond ours that there can only be one possible explanation. It´s alien. The Aurorans have sided with Buchanan."
"For once, I agree with you, Ivanov," Evan said.
"So let´s nuke the place. This is war, and the Aurorans are a threat. Also, Atlas carries Bliss."
"I don´t care about Bliss. After we´re done, it doesn´t matter anymore," Evan snapped. "Also, if we nuke the Aurorans, don´t you think they´ll retaliate? They are far more advanced than us, and like you said, this is a shuttle. What about the mothership?"
"Either way, we need to show strength. Sir, let me repeat that this is war. You cannot mean that we should hold back in the face of an enemy," Ivanov hissed. Evan held up a hand to keep Meridian Koster, head of his personal bodyguard, from launching a punch at the First Janissary.
Evan barked back, "Do not lecture me, First Janissary. The decision is mine and mine alone. That being said, I need to be certain we´re not making a mistake here. Look," Evan´s tone softened slightly, "why don´t you concentrate on the northern front, and I´ll figure out how to deal with this. I won´t nuke something on a hunch." Evan had made it clear this was the final word, and he would have no protest. He looked at the blue dots on the screen and the number below. Forty minutes to go before Buchanan ceased to exist.
Could he really do that? Was he capable of killing Sue? Even though the words, absurd as they might be between an English and one of the Moon people, had never been spoken, there had been a tension there—something beyond friendship. If nothing else, they had been comrades in arms. That was no small thing.
Renee
"We´re hit!" the pilot shouted as the alarm went off, and the airship immediately began to lose altitude. They were approaching the outskirts of Buchanan City, and an anti-aircraft rocket had exploded near enough to damage one of their engines. A sizable part of the reinforced helium container ripped open. The pilot was struggling to regain control of the ship while the passengers—Renee, Sue, and the redheaded ranger—were tossed from side to side in their harnesses.
A movement from the rear of the passenger compartment caught her attention, and Jason, Sue´s little brother, emerged from behind a canvas.
"Jason, you idiot!" Sue shouted at him, unbuckling herself. She managed to reach him and push him into an empty seat. She strapped him in and sat down next to him.
"Brace for emergency landing."
Seconds later, the airship crashed to the ground. What the pilot called an emergency landing Renee could have sworn was a crash. The cockpit was smashed, and she saw the pilot being torn apart as wire cut into him. All movement stopped, and Renee found herself, to her surprise, unharmed. The ranger was already on her feet and on her way out, gun blazing.
"Move it, they´re coming!" she shouted. Sue picked up her weapon, got one for her brother, and followed. Renee, still stunned by the impact, checked her magazine and looked over at the shredded cockpit. The pilot lay in a pool of blood, eyes wide open. She looked away. There was nothing she could do for him now. She jumped out after the others.
The first enemy soldiers had already been pinned down from a joint effort between Sue and the ranger, and Jason seemed sensible enough to keep his head down. She checked their surroundings. They had crashed onto a road into the city, and the others had already taken cover in a ditch to the right. Renee quickly found a spot to the left overlooking the approach from the city, her back to the downed airship. More soldiers were coming, and Renee knew this would end badly unless they managed to break contact quickly.
"We have to get out of here. I´m almost out of ammo," she said. Sue grinned back at her. Only a combat veteran does that, Renee thought.
"I´ve got a spare magazine, but it won´t last forever," she said.
"I´ll be out soon as well," the ranger said.
So this is it, Renee thought. This is where we die.
The enemy soldiers were spreading out, preparing to overtake them.
Renee took a deep breath. Every bullet had to count. Then she sighted and slowly squeezed the trigger.
A hail of explosions rained on the enemy soldiers. The enemy was cut to pieces within seconds. A deep roar from above made Renee look up.
Something that looked like a huge airship, only without a helium container, hovered above them. It was enormous and gave off a blue glow. It was the shuttle, Renee realized. The Aurorans had come to help, and they were protecting them with this mammoth aircraft fitted with machine cannons the size of heavy artillery.
"Wow, that´s just…" the ranger began, at a loss for words.
"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," Renee said.
Chapter 20
Tina
"We cannot wait much longer. The missiles are in the air, and Buchanan will be reduced to smoky ruins in less than thirty minutes," Tina said. Dave bit his lip as he nodded vigorously.
"I know, I know. I just wish they would give some sign to let us know what happened."
A few minutes ago, all contact with the airship headed for the city had been lost. For all they knew, the ship could have been shot down, leaving everyone dead, or they could be lying helpless outside the city. Tina´s tablet bleeped, and she let out a relieved breath.
"They´re alive. Ramon just arrived with the shuttle and found their airship shot down. They were fighting overwhelming forces, but as soon as Ramon engaged the easterners, he more than evened out the odds. It´s just a matter of time now. Ramon will take as many as he can in the shuttle, and come here as soon as he can. The other shuttle is approaching from the ark, and they should be able to take four hundred people every fifteen minutes between the two of them."
Almost everyone from Frost had already been sent up to the ark, but civilians from Buchanan and its surroundings were trickling in now. So far, more than a thousand had come, and Tina expected Ramon to be carrying a full load of two hundred on his shuttle.
"But even if Buchanan is nuked, we´ll still be able to carry on from here, right?" Dave said.
"Yes, but we´ll be in a hurry. Once Buchanan is taken out, the eastern forces will move in. I´d like to be long gone by then."
Tina checked the time again. Twenty-six minutes to go.
Sue
"Move it, move it, move it," Sue cried as the refugees hobbled into the cargo bay of the shuttle, maintaining orderly lines despite the firefight in the distance. The shuttle was firing at any enemy soldiers who got too close, and it managed to keep them at bay mostly by itself. Still, Renee insist
ed on staying out by the lines of refugees to offer extra protection. She had picked up several rifles and a rocket launcher from inside the cargo bay, strange-looking things that seemed easy enough to handle, and she was firing at enemy soldiers as soon they approached. The redheaded ranger supported a pregnant woman who seemed to be in pain. Sue had told Jason to stay in the cargo bay, but the stubborn boy had refused and was now helping people enter as well. Sue thought he looked so much older than his ten years as he supported the tired people of Buchanan as they left their home behind. She was terrified that something would happen to him, but at least he wasn´t out in the open anymore.
"Time?" she asked.
The ranger replied, "Ten minutes. We´re out in no more than six." That left four minutes to take off and get away from the blast area. The missiles were on their way, and Ramon Solis Dunn, the Auroran pilot, probably had one eye glued to the screen, watching their approach right now.
Sue stepped out again. She still had a few rounds left in her weapon and a single rocket in her attached launcher. She saw Renee had pinned down some approaching soldiers, but a small armored vehicle kept firing at the refugees. Sue released the safety of her launcher and aimed.
The rocket screamed as it left the launcher. It was a simple thing without a guidance system, and hence, there was no way to lure it off the mark. Two seconds later, it exploded right where she had aimed, disabling the vehicle´s gun.
She turned to the refugees again. Their faces held all facets of emotions, from panic and defiance to frightened cries and relieved tears. They had lost everything, yet these were the lucky ones, the ones who might have a future. Everyone else still around would cease to exist in mere minutes.
"Time!" she shouted again.
"Five minutes. One minute to lift off," the ranger replied. Sue turned toward Renee, who alternated between firing bullets and rockets at the ever-approaching enemies.
"Come on, Renee, we can’t stay any longer. Get inside!" she said. The French woman turned, and Sue realized she had no intention of leaving the battlefield.
"Go on, I´ll cover your ascent," she shouted.
Sue hesitated.
"Move it. Don´t argue with me. This is my revenge for my people," Renee said. Sue saw tears streaking down her cheeks, and she knew enough not to argue. She turned and climbed on board.
In her peripheral vision, she saw Jason pushing the final straggler inside before climbing on board. That´s when she saw her ten-year-old brother jolt as if he had tripped on something and collapse, his feet hanging out in the air. The shuttle was shaking and lifting off the ground, and Jason´s hands slipped as he tried to hold on.
"Jason!" she screamed, watching him slide toward the edge. She threw herself forward and managed to get a hold of his left hand.
"Help me, please!" she cried, and people rushed in to help. The ranger grabbed Jason´s shirt and one of the refugees took his right hand. Together they pulled him in, and the hatch closed.
"Jason, goddammit!" Sue watched as the ranger ripped his shirt open and exposed his skin. The bullet had entered his lower back and exited his upper thigh.
"Shit," the ranger said. Sue knew exactly what she meant. The bullet had moved around inside, causing who knew what kind of internal damage. He´s only ten! Sue wanted to scream, but something took a hold of her and made her cold as ice as she inspected the wound, assessing how to best stop the bleeding.
"Press here and here," she directed, helping the ranger place the bandages.
"Jason, do you hear me?" she said, gritting her teeth. "Don´t you die on me." The boy´s eyes had rolled up, and he was beyond her reach. All Sue could hope was that he could hang on long enough for… For what? She didn´t know what kind of treatment the Aurorans could give him, but it had to be good for her brother to survive this. She had already lost her mother. She couldn’t lose Jason as well.
The shuttle jolted slightly, and the interior lit up.
Nobody said anything, but everyone knew what had just happened.
Buchanan was no more.
Chapter 21
Evan
Cheers erupted in the command bunker as the images of what had once been Buchanan came in. Buchanan City, their fiercest enemy and only real threat, lay in ruins.
"All right, all right. This war isn´t over yet. Get back to your posts," Evan said. Defeating the enemy felt good, but the thought of thousands, millions perhaps, of perished people dampened the joy for Evan. It had to mean something, or it would be the greatest waste of human lives since the Fall. That meant back to business.
"Let´s hear it, Strategic Assets," he said. Strategos Alexandrov stepped forward. Evan noticed the head of Strategic Assets looked more vigorous now, and he wondered if it was the triumph of Buchanan or if he was using stimulants. He wouldn´t be the only one, and Evan knew it was even more common among Moon people forces than in the Janissaries.
"Sir, we lost Legacy, but there wasn´t anything we could do about it. Our missile defense was never really capable of stopping ballistics. But we got Buchanan, and if you give the order, we can use our tactical assets to take out enemy formations as well. I have a list of priority targets for you." Evan waved him off.
"I´ll take a look at it afterward. Let´s not go overboard with nuclear weapons like we did up north. We need the west to be habitable."
He turned toward Ivanov.
"How is the northern advance progressing?"
"We´ve had some difficulties, sir. The Eastfold Brigade is being held up, and it seems their advance is halted. Unless we use tactical nukes, I fear we´ll see protracted warfare up there. The enemy´s dug in pretty effectively." Evan nodded. Ivanov was a capable commander, despite everything. If he said nukes were the only option, Evan believed him.
"Okay. Alexandrov, coordinate with Ivanov. Make sure the enemy is neutralized."
"Strategos Jenssen."
"Sir, all teams were extracted from Buchanan City and are now clearing the surrounding areas. Buchanan Airport is secured. We lost a company at the Frost Observatory. It seems they self-detonated a nuclear device to prevent us from taking over. We still don´t know why, but we are in total control of Buchanan´s strategic assets, meaning we´ll see no more missile launches from their side. There are still pockets of resistance, supposedly led from an intelligence base deep underground in the western mountains, but the central front should be ready for conventional forces to move in."
"Thank you. And the southern front?" Strategos Janev, his former commander from Camp Sharpe, stepped forward.
"There has been little resistance on the southern coast, and the Africa corps is moving inland as we speak. We don´t expect any difficulty in the Dead Zone although there may be minor skirmishes with local warlords. Once we reach Buchanan territory, we´ll be ready to deal with anything. That should be in about three hours at our current speed." Evan nodded, never revealing his dislike for the man who had never seen combat.
"Okay, so we´re moving ahead, mostly as planned. Carry on," Evan said.
He walked away to make a few calls, but immediately noticed First Janissary Ivanov following him. He turned around and motioned for Meridian Koster to stay put.
"Yes?"
"We have located the Auroran mothership. It hovers ten-thousand meters up in the atmosphere, just above where the shuttle was found. They are evacuating people."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. One of the orbitals passed overhead a while ago. While the orbital´s weapons have been incapacitated, it is fully capable of both high-resolution photography and film, and we are regaining control of its comms. We even had some of the images run through facial recognition. Miss Atlas, Mr. Wagner, and a few former escapees are among the scientists. We could take them all out in one blow, sir."
Evan shook his head.
"Come with me," he said, leading the way into one of the isolated compartments where officers were meant to sleep when off-duty. As soon as the door closed, the First Janissary blurted,
"They are no threat to us," he said quietly.
"No threat? Their mere existence is a threat to us. That’s why we took the North. That´s why we´re taking out Buchanan. And dammit, Atlas and Wagner know too much."
"I won´t do it," Evan said.
"You think you´re so powerful, Hordvik. Just wait until I inform the other families," Ivanov hissed.
"You won´t inform anyone," Evan said slowly and turned around. He pointed his gun straight at the First Janissary´s head.
"I won´t kill her," he whispered. Ivanov´s eyes grew large.
"Is that why?"
"That´s one reason. But there´s more," Evan said, keeping his gun leveled at Ivanov´s head.
"You are a threat to me, and I cannot have that. Not anymore. I want to change the Covenant, you see. I bet you would prefer that all the English were Corpus, wouldn´t you? Well, I don´t want that."
"You English-loving scum," Ivanov sneered. Evan shook his head again.
"No, that´s not it. I know we´re the masters taking advantage of the English, but you see, there are degrees. You would have them all slaving away under the whip, wouldn´t you? But that only leads to more revolts, and the system would crumble eventually. You should read up on pre-Fall history, Ivanov. You’d know what our system looks like in the light of history and how every other system like ours has ended."
"History is written by the victors," Ivanov replied. Evan nodded.
"Yes, it is. And make no mistake: I want the Moon people to rule the Earth. Don´t you think I won’t subjugate the English, but I don’t want them eradicated like the French. I want them to willingly serve us as the lesser race. I just want to use the carrot instead of the whip."
"You´re making a mistake," Ivanov said.
"No, and you will not stop me."
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