***
Gabriella descended rapidly. Despite all that was at stake, including her brother’s life, she refused to harm civilians. Her first target was the parking lot of the Con Edison Power Plant. The twin guns tore the vehicles apart, no matter the size, and within a few seconds the parking lot was in flames.
While still two hundred feet in the air above the plant, Gabby broke left and flew over the cityscape. Her radar told her all the UNR aircraft were coming this way now, but none were equipped to deal with a Peregrine. I almost feel sorry for them. She circled back to the plant and once more put her guns to work. The smoke stacks were a safe target and one by one they went down. The tall structures collapsed in a mess of dust.
On the ground, workers fled the three-story complex in droves. Over their terrified heads came a trio of Ospreys. Their target zipped over them and elevated again.
“Hostile headed for the East River. Pursuing,” the lead pilot reported.
Their guns couldn’t land a bead on the Peregrine, but Gabby stayed over the water. Once the Ospreys gave chase, she quickly spun around to come at her pursuers.
“Take evasive maneuvers!” the UNR pilot ordered.
The trio of Ospreys moved to break formation, but before any could get very far the Peregrine was on them. Gabby cut clean through them, and her bullets tore through the center UNR aircraft in the blink of an eye. The flaming wreckage fell into the East River.
Citizens on both sides of the body of water watched as another one of the Ospreys was picked off. The people ducked, expecting death, but the Peregrine headed for the power plant again. She wanted to wait a little longer, but Alex had been specific. Time was of the utmost importance. She fired the first of her missiles.
The missile hit the conductors and reduced them to ash all in one go. The nearby powerlines sparked before giving out. All around Manhattan, the lights of the city flickered.
***
Inside the United Nations General Assembly Hall, all the lights began to go on and off. Panic followed, all the guests rushing for the sole exit. The sporadic light made the evacuation a disorderly mess. Even as UNR guards stuck close to the Chancellor, urging him toward the faraway exit, only one thing was on his mind. “Kearney, get them out now!” he commanded into his intercom.
The Chancellor’s assistant fought Janet’s struggling. She begged for her husband to join her, but the distance between them was too great. Captain Howarth stood there, refusing to move.
“Damien, please!” Kearney shouted.
The young man froze. At that moment, the room was fully enveloped in pitch-black.
***
Manhattan was drenched in darkness. Even in Times Square, the black of the sky had seemed to consume the ground and people below it. The civilians on the streets were thrown into disarray, and UNR soldiers struggled to thwart the panic. Among all those thousands in that bustling center, only one could truly see. Marisol began to move.
The people of the UNR had not known true fear in a long time. The soldiers atop the UN Hall waited for their orders. They were right to tremble.
They all heard the bellow of some kind of aircraft and cocked their guns. It was a futile gesture, sadly. Before any had a clear idea what was going on, they were blown apart by the guns of the Peregrine. Enormous rounds versus insignificant flesh and bone. One among them did survive by ducking early, and he now lay amongst the remains of his brethren. He was the only one to see the aircraft hover ten feet above his position.
Leaping down from the plane were two figures, both human, it seemed. One landed lightly while the other did so with a loud thud. The aircraft above took off immediately after, producing light from its propulsion system and also a great, surging, wind. More important than the wind that nearly sent him off the rooftop, the soldier saw who stood before him. Jesus Christ.
The two silhouettes stared at him and automatically he dropped his gun. Since he was already on his knees, the two daunting shapes made no move to kill him.
“Get a move on, you two,” Alex said in their ears. “Bri, remember, any computer in there should do. Please, watch your back.”
The two phantoms acknowledged their orders and set out to complete the mission.
***
Atop the Flatiron Building, Emir saw everything around him go dark. It was a sight one could only dream of, watching a landscape of illuminated towers fade into ink. He and his battalion, just one among many throughout the city, were all equipped with night vision goggles. Before they got to it, though, Emir wanted to see the buildings with their forgone obscurity. Listening closely, he could even hear screaming down below. It was truly something to behold. A pity, he thought. There was no more time to enjoy the eerie spectacle.
He now looked at the soldiers with him on that rooftop. They all wore civilian clothes, not military uniforms. What they did all have in common were faces of cold determination and not a hint of fear. Emir himself was a handsome fellow, his face unscarred and its smooth features deceptively inviting.
“Brothers and sisters,” Emir announced, “the night is finally here, just as was promised. The first wave has done their part, and now we shall do ours. Our directive is simple: when you see UNR forces advancing on the target zone, you slow them down at any cost. No need for full on assaults. Hit and run tactics will do just fine. Tonight is a night of victory, and it’s only the first of many. Any who fall tonight will be remembered eternally!”
“Yes, sir!”
“We are the solemn envoys! We carry the message of fate! We carry the final message! The message that tells of the end days! In these final remaining days, we are the Nightingale!”
“Yes, sir!”
“All units move out!”
The soldiers of entropy descended upon the city without light. They spread confusion, anguish, and death. That was their purpose and Emir monitored their progress on a small device he held in his hands. On its screen were serial numbers linked to vital signs, so far all in green. If any were to go to red, it was up to him to take care of the rest.
For him, all the pain they inflicted was not egregious. This was the opening cacophony of so much more to come. Ripe fruit at last being harvested from Vanzetti’s orchard. The fires rising were wide bites into the flesh of this long-awaited meal, and Emir was ravenous.
***
Yet another Humvee rushed the UN Hall, followed by a contingent of soldiers on foot. As soon as the force got even remotely close to the entrance, they were struck by a missile from above. The Humvee and groups of soldiers alike were consumed by the ensuing explosion.
Kane saw this from his cover spot. He and several other soldiers were pinned down behind a pair of Bison vehicles roughly two hundred feet from the Hall. The street between them and the building had become a no man’s land. Every attempt to get close led to the aircraft tearing them to pieces. Looking out at the carnage, even the mighty general felt hopeless.
Aliss and Flemming were next to him and were equally as frustrated.
“What the hell do we do?” Flemming demanded.
Aliss kept his eyes on the circling Peregrine while Kane focused on their destination. It was then he saw what he’d been waiting for. Out of the glass entrance doors came a flock of screaming men and women who scattered in all directions once outside. Aliss studied the aircraft and then rose from his haunches.
“Keeping its distance now?” Kane asked.
“Yeah, let’s move,” Aliss said calmly.
As an act of providence, just then light returned to the city. Buildings and street lamps alike came back to life. As the UNR soldiers observed the spectacle, Kane saw a group of people approaching their position. His advanced eyes quickly saw just who they were: Kearney, Janet, and Damien. The flaming remains of the fallen soldiers had kept all other fleeing people from coming anywhere near them, but these three came without pause.
Kane stepped up to them.
“What’s going on in there?” the giant said.
; “Panic, people running everywhere. I don’t think Carl is out yet!” Kearney said between breaths.
“You have to send in the cyborg squads, now!” Janet commanded. Kane saw Damien was still looking back at the building.
“Yes, ma’am. Let’s go!” the commander said.
They could hear an alarm resound in the air, high-pitched and without end. Every last one of them recognized it from the practice sessions over the past few months. Each person standing there felt a chill that did not come from the night air.
At that very moment, humongous metal plates were sliding over the entrances and all windows to the UN Hall. Without any command, Kane, Aliss, and Flemming and all the UNR soldiers, human and cyborg alike, ran for their way in. They pushed politicians aside, and any reporter who dared approached them as they ran up the steps was knocked back on their ass.
No, Kane thought just as they were inches away. The metal plates reached the ground. Instantly, all the noise they’d heard previously coming from inside ceased.
“No!!” Kane yelled as he slammed a fist to the plating. The echo of the impact was abrasive to the ears, but even with his strength he barely made a dent. That didn’t stop him. Kane began to land punch after punch on the wall. Aliss didn’t partake in this. Instead, he glared at Flemming.
“Get your men all over this building! If we can’t turn off the emergency defense system, then start having your men set charges to get through!” Aliss said aloud.
“But,” Flemming stammered, “any blast could send debris at civilians, and those aren’t ordinary civilians in there!”
Aliss grabbed the sergeant by his throat and lifted him up into the air. Flemming, caught completely off guard, was made utterly helpless. Worse still, he could feel the immense pressure from Aliss’ grip. It was clear he could crush the wires and metal in his neck whenever he pleased.
“Do it now!”
Flemming was tossed to the pavement, yelping in agony as his back connected. Aliss paid no mind to this whatsoever. He went to work punching the dense metal as well. The sergeant, feeling emasculated, gathered himself and did as he was told.
***
Vanzetti was among those who did not flee. Most who remained were hunched under their desks, but not him. Though he stayed low by his chair, he kept his eyes on his surroundings. It had been less than five minutes since Venloran had frozen on stage. The brief darkness had been more than enough to plunge the crowd into panic, and when the light returned, it was even more chaotic. People scrambled for the sole exit back to the lobby, but the giant metal barriers coming down stopped roughly half of them. A few bold ones rolled to get out, but most halted. A few hundred politicians and reporters were still inside, and Vanzetti noted they all looked scared shitless.
Venloran was at the mainstage still, surrounded by men in suits with guns at the ready. Vanzetti knew exactly where to look.
High above them was a series of windows. In there he knew was the translator chamber overlooking the main hall. With the main entrance/exit blocked and all other windows sealed, that’s where the assault would stem from. To his sheer delight, one of those windows shattered as a figure in black leaped down to the floor. The Grim Reaper has arrived.
Vanzetti looked around the room. He saw a few of the targets. He was sure it wasn’t all of them, but it would do. How he so badly wanted to see it for himself. To blend in, however, he needed to feign terror and so he did.
Vanzetti joined the rest of them in hiding under his desks. The first gunshot rang out, followed by another after another. People screamed, the sound so loud it rang in his eardrums. The man found himself smiling. Round after round, his smile grew and grew. Then came silence. Well, close enough to it. There was still abject crying here and there, but no more guns going off.
Now we can—
“CHANCELLOR!”
What?! Vanzetti hid no more.
The secretary general was still crouched down, but he came from under his desk. Scanning of the room showed him the only dead were the guards who’d challenged the cyborg. These men were splayed out on the forest green carpet all over, but no one else.
Will himself was now slowly walking through the rows of desks and knocked-over chairs. His assault rifle was slung on his back. The men and women who ruled over whole countries shied away from his gaze, not that he looked at any of them. No, his eyes were locked onto one man and one man only.
***
Around the world, in every home in every country, people watched as Chancellor Venloran rose to his feet. All around him were the bodies of the soldiers who had laid down their lives for him. Several reporters and their cameramen were still in the room and they continued to record, Oswald among them. From up in the translator chamber, Brielle watched as Will closed in on Venloran while Alex watched from the body cam on the cyborg’s shoulder. Jacob, Nusaybah, and Adar had front row seats with Venloran’s back to them. They became short of breath as Will drew closer. By now the UN General Assembly Hall was as silent as a cemetery. In truth, it had become just that.
Will walked up the stairs of the stage now standing face-to-face with Venloran. The cyborg saw no fear in the man’s eyes.
“A suicide attempt on tonight of all nights,” Venloran said with spite. “You must know that this farce can only last a few minutes at best. Then hell comes for you.”
“Actually, Chancellor,” Will said, “you might want to look closer.”
Venloran did, noticing several rows of tubes strapped around Will’s waist, including over his belt. He had a feeling he knew what he was looking at but was too terrified to say it.
“Semtex. Old stuff, but effective.”
“You’d really kill everyone here.”
“Personally, I’ve had enough of men in suits giving me orders, so I wouldn’t mind bringing this whole place down.”
“Taking your Crimson Angel comrades with you. As well as your newfound acquaintances.”
“I’m not here representing any country or even the Crimson Angels. I’m here as William Marconi. Now, do as I say.”
Venloran conceded, “Kane, keep everyone back.”
At this point, the UNR forces had already made their way through the first blockade and purely by force. The civvies trapped in the lobby now fled outside as the soldiers marched forward. They all halted at the order of their Chancellor.
“But, sir—” Kane said.
Venloran threw his intercom to the floor as well. He brought his shoe down on it.
“So, now what would you have me do, Will?”
Will looked away from Venloran’s piercing gaze. He had what he wanted: the Chancellor in his sights. Yet, he now hesitated. His former commander-in-chief saw this.
“Don’t tell me you came all this way without any true end game. Although, it doesn’t take much contemplation to assume what you’re here for. Then again, do you feel cornered; afraid to lose your most valuable hostage?”
With that, Will struck Venloran in his chest, knocking him to the floor. Before he could get up, Will knelt on top of him and delivered a slap to his face. Blood hit the floor as the room’s silence prevailed. All over the world, people saw the brutality.
Venloran, mouth bloody and a large bruise on his face, got up. Will was astonished.
“I know no fear, Will, and I have but a single regret,” the Chancellor said. “And it doesn’t regard you. Whatever satisfaction you’re looking for from a broken life, I guarantee you won’t find it in this.”
“A fragile man obstinate to the last. I’m doing the only thing left to me. For them.”
“I see. The wound that never heals. I have attempted to rectify what has happened to you. For all those who have come under my service. I built up cities, saved lives, and upheld peace. My only dream was to unify the world. I’ve lost those dear to me as well. I’ve felt a child die and felt myself helpless to stop it.”
Will felt his fist tighten up. “And I helped build this world.”
“Yes, we built i
t together. Yet, you’re now burning it down selfishly. You, a great warrior, a knight, reduced to a common terrorist. I only want to make sure you understand the weight of your crimes. I don’t think you realize what you happen to be unleashing.”
“I fully understand, honorable sir. I did what I did tonight to try to change things.”
There was no derision, no disdain, and no mockery in him saying that.
“I don’t feel I belong in this world. Not anymore,” Will admitted.
“So be it, soldier.”
Venloran fixed his suit and tried to fix his blazer, only to notice the top button was gone. He found himself laughing briefly and finally straightened his tie. The king and the knight saw each other for what they were for the first time.
“Do as you will.”
Will grabbed hold of the Chancellor’s throat, unable to hear the screams behind him. He refused to drag it out, but nonetheless he never looked away from Carl Venloran’s eyes. There were tears in both their eyes, and all around them the world burst into flames. The cinders rested on their shoulders. King and knight gone forever.
Will gently laid the Chancellor’s body on the carpet. There was only a warrior’s silent commemoration before the victor walked away. The cyborg strode over to the trio of prisoners, ripping the chains off Jacob first.
No one had a chance to say anything before the barricade began to give way. That solid wall of metal, which was several feet thick, was crumbling apart in a matter of seconds. The time of fury was here at last.
Chapter 13- Hallowed Battle
Up in the interpreter room, Bri watched the developing scene below. On the telescreen to her right, the news was going nuts. The camera crews around the town were desperate to get a shot of the Peregrine, but at best all they could get were blurs and flaming wreckage of the UNR aircraft it left behind.
Her ULC was doing its job without a hitch. Alex often praised her, sometimes even belittling himself, but he had a remarkable intellect himself. Frightening at times, really…
Ballad of Demise Page 11