“Retreat!” he yelled again. “Re—”
Roderick Reynolds slammed into Jenkins.
He landed on the charred base of the statue. Glared down at Jenkins splatted flat on his back, trying to shake the cobwebs out of his head.
“Rocco isn’t dead because she made bad decisions,” Reynolds barked. “She’s dead because she made good ones. She’s dead because the Council knew she was a threat to them. You, the only thing you’re a threat to are those tighty-whities you’re probably wearing.”
Reynolds spun to face the troops. The names and addresses continued. The strikes were not going to abate simply because the troops had turned from the fight—that now became clear. The horror on their faces sent a deep chill down Reynolds’s spine.
He swallowed hard. “You’ll never reach your families in time. You know it, and I know it!”
Across the crowd of soldiers heads nodded in agreement.
“There’s only one way that you can protect them, and you each know what that is!” He turned toward the Capitol building, pointed across the Ellipse to the Council Guard, who were now also headed back in that direction, backs turned to the Minutemen. “Remember Helius! Remember the five thousand! Attack!” Reynolds commanded.
Somewhere in the throng Lance Baker screamed—a lonely bellow of pain and torment—and charged.
In uneven lines, the Minutemen rose in response and followed him back into battle.
“Lantern, can you get that thing of yours to teleport to the gunships that are firing those missiles?”
“The Hollow can hit some of them, but it will take time.”
“I’m taking control of the Minutemen. Get it done,” Reynolds said. He had no authority to take command, let alone give Lantern an order. He held his breath.
“Yes, sir,” Lantern replied.
Reynolds decided right then and there he liked that Lantern guy. He’d buy him a beer when this was all over. ‘Course, he probably didn’t drink.
Reynolds scanned the troops around him and spied the two young men who had accompanied Jenkins with the big, bulky com unit. They were setting it down by the side of the curb, readying themselves to charge into battle with the rest of their unit. “You two,” he yelled to them.
They popped their heads up and stared at him.
“Get to safety. Use that thing to call as many of the families as you can and tell them to get the hell away from their homes. And take Commander Jenkins with you, would you?”
The men stared wide-eyed at the still prone Jenkins.
“Do it now!”
The men jumped to get it done.
Reynolds ignited his bootjets, rose in the air, and shot like a missile over the heads of the advancing Minutemen. A bellowing roar rolled out across their numbers, and they raised their fists in defiance as the Ram led them back into the battle.
CHAPTER 56
In the streets surrounding the Mall, word began to spread through the crowd of onlookers that the Capitol was about to be destroyed. Just like the vice president’s place. Leslie, the president, and all of Congress would be killed.
Maybe it had been overheard being broadcast across radios worn by some of the Minutemen. Maybe it was an Internet rumor. No one would ever know, but as the rumor spread, anger began to swell. Even in the midst of the massive firefight, a mob of civilians made their way into the war zone, surrounding the Capitol Building. Shielding it with their own bodies.
Above them, a large squadron of Vipers entered into the combat airspace, flying high above. Their commander was in contact with the chairman, and Tarleton had made it clear that he expected the Vipers to fire on the Resistance forces if things got out of hand. The commander took in the scene, saw the protestors entering the Mall around the Capitol, and decided things were about to get out of hand.
But not the way the chairman had thought. There was no way he was going to order his squad to fire on unarmed civilians. Nor was he about to kill citizens who had volunteered to come protect their Capitol from an armed invasion.
He sent the order down the line to engage anyone firing on peaceful protestors. That included Council Guard or anyone else.
“Contact the Guard down there, would you,” he said to one of his wingmen. “Find out if those helos got the same order. And let them know we’re up here and what our intentions are.”
The Council was on its own.
Revolution shook his head. “You took an oath, Clay. That oath is about more than just money.”
“That’s not my reading of history, pal.”
“Maybe you should reread it.”
Arbor scoffed. “History tends to repeat itself. Like when I was kicking your ass back in New York and Philly.”
“As I recall, that was a draw.” Revolution raised his arms, readied his grenade launchers.
“Not this time, sweetheart.” Arbor moved fast, held up his hand, and opened his palm. A brilliant beam of white light flashed out of it.
Revolution fell to one knee. Arbor’s blast struck like a hand wrapping around his brain and squeezing. Red warning lights were flashing everywhere in his HUD.
“New and improved,” Arbor said, admiring the effects of his lobotomy beam. “Von Cyprus is a fucking twat, but he does do good work.”
THE NATIONAL MALL
WASHINGTON, D. C.
The black streak of laser-guided lightning ripped across the steps of the Capitol. Scarlett and Lantern, racing desperately to get back inside the building, leaped off of the steps instead, the lightning chasing them. The duo dove over the stone railing, falling into the grass and bushes below. Lantern felt a sickness in his stomach.
“Stay down,” Lantern told her as she struggled to rise. They were trying very hard to kill her.
Lantern replayed the attack in his HUD and traced back the source of Von Cyprus’s strike, pinpointing his location. “Got him! He’s in the Old Post Office Clock Tower.”
“Where’s that?”
“Other side of those buildings.” Lantern pointed to the western skyline.
“I’m not sure I can reach that far.” Scarlett winced. Blood was running down her left arm from a long wound.
Another Von Cyprus black lightning strike slammed into the sidewalk in front of them. It was some twenty feet away, but they could feel its unearthly energy ripple through them as the pavement erupted and a group of Minutemen were burned into oblivion.
More strikes fanned out across the Mall, mixing with the tracer fire of the X-1s and the laser blasts of the machines.
Another wave of horror rolled over the two of them as they watched the gory scene. How could they ever possibly hope to win this?
A deep mechanical roar rose from their right.
Spectral was blasted across the sky as the Aztech rose once again above the tree line, just before a dark cloud of smoke concealed both it and the Post Office Tower from view.
Spectral announced across the com.
Lantern peered out across the ruined Mall. Minutemen, still trapped in the middle and surrounded on all sides by Council Guard, were using the large divots of earth that had been churned out by missile blasts as makeshift fox holes and bunkers.
Scanning ahead he saw just such a divot on the other side of the building’s far staircase.
“C’mon, let’s go while we can,” Lantern said.
The duo sprinted across the Capitol Building’s front plaza to the staircase on the other side, leaping into the dark brown dirt of the smoldering divot. From there, they were hidden from both the Aztech’s and Von Cyprus’s positions. It wasn’t much of a plan, but Lantern just knew he needed to keep Scarlett alive until she could take out the Aztech for good.
If that was even possible.
As another barrage of energy weapon impacts slammed into the earth all around them, showering down dirt and mud all over them, he couldn’t fight the gnawing thought that it wasn’t.
Rachel
darted across the street.
“Lantern, I’m definitely picking up X-Ray’s signal. He’s pinging all over the place. Are you getting this?”
“A little busy right now,” was the reply she got back.
Rachel trotted through the Upper Senate Park, just on the other side of Constitution Avenue from the Capitol Building. She needed to get a bird’s-eye view of this battle. Up ahead was the Robert A. Taft Memorial—a long, thin marble tower shaped a bit like a skinny office building.
Perfect.
Her RDSD found the statue’s entrance. At the top were a series of bells that rang out occasionally and needed to be serviced regularly. From there, she would find her way to the roof and deactivate the electronic lock.
On the side of the memorial was an engraving. Despite her haste to get inside, the words caught her eye.
The engraving read: "If we wish to make democracy permanent in this country, let us abide by the fundamental principles laid down in the Constitution. Let us see that the state is the servant of its people, and that the people are not the servants of the state."
Really perfect.
In minutes she was on the roof.
Invisible to all, she had an ideal view of the entire Mall.
She pulled out her pistol.
Rachel pressed two safeties on the side of the Beretta 3032 Tomcat, and Ward’s dart attachment popped off. She slipped it into an open pouch on her utility belt. From a different pocket she pulled out two things. One was a portable RDSD-guided aiming system. It looked like a small GPS screen. Second, she pulled out a MagCharge. She snapped the guiding screen onto the back of the Beretta’s barrel, just above the grip. Next, she popped the MagCharge down on the top of the barrel.
Her tiny Beretta pistol was now a mobile grenade launcher.
From Rachel’s perch she could see Von Cyprus’s lightning blasts targeting Lantern and Scarlett. She just couldn’t tell exactly where they were coming from. Somewhere high up and somewhere far away. Too far away for the MagCharge.
Just then a Spore zipped by her, firing its many blasters at Lantern and Scarlett as well as the many Minutemen nearby them.
That thing she could hit.
The charge was set for one second after impact. She aimed the Beretta and fired. The MagCharge zinged out like a Frisbee, spinning through the air, and clunked perfectly between two of the Spore’s thick silver spikes.
One second later...
BOOM!
The Spore burst into a million fragments. They rained down into the Capitol Reflecting Pool and sizzled on the surface of the water.
“Thanks, Stealth,” Lantern said over the com.
“Saved your ass, huh? I think you owe me.” Rachel paused for a second and then added, “Your ass, that is.”
She heard Lantern groan over the com.
“I’m getting a lock on Von Cyprus, and I’m gonna work my way to him—”
“Find Ray,” Lantern interjected. “We can take care of ourselves. He’s directing those missile strikes on the families.”
“The Minutemen families?” That was the first she’d heard of it, and the idea filled her with dread.
“Yes.”
And anger.
“Alright, but stay safe, L. Watching you wiggle your tight little ass down the hallway gets me through my days. Would hate to lose that.”
She didn’t wait for Lantern’s response; she knew there wouldn’t be one. And now she had a burning desire to find X-Ray. She knew Lantern would be the one to want to take him down, but she’d save a MagCharge for the little bastard, just in case.
Paul Ward gasped and halted, midair. This wasn’t working.
How the hell do you stop these guys?
Only Spectral could go unharmed against the Aztech, and he wasn’t sure if even the android could withstand Von Cyprus’s sleeves, given that they negated matter. Wouldn’t light be counted in that category?
They’d been so focused on the Aztech and the Doctor that they’d failed to fully realize just how dangerous Von Cyprus himself could be. Had the scientist wanted to he could probably destroy the Aztech in a matter of moments with those sleeves of his. What force on Earth could stop them? Not Spectral, not Fiona.
Certainly not himself, Ward knew.
Just then, a bolt of the black energy zinged up at him impossibly fast—just as a red and green streak slammed into Ward and knocked him off the firing line.
Spectral.
“Tell me something I don’t know. Glad to see you back among the living...or whatever.”
Just then, another beam of the black energy burned back up at them. Ward and Reynolds scattered as Spectral phased to light form. The beam sliced straight through his ethereal form.
The android shuddered from the impact.
Spectral turned to the two of them calmly.
Reynolds flew up from below him and hovered to survey the damage. “Uh, I can see sky through your belly, so maybe you might ought to double-check that, bro.”
Ward zoomed back away from the action and darted down below the rooftops, landing on top of a low building. “Rev,” Ward said, “we can’t take much more of Von Cyprus and the Aztech combined!”
“Then take him out!” Revolution’s voice sounded irritated, impatient.
Ward sympathized, but that was the whole problem. “We can’t do that, remember? He goes, the Doctor and the monster both run free!”
A navy-blue missile zoomed in beside Ward, and he spun, too late to dodge it.
It was Reynolds. He landed next to Ward and shook his head. “He’s saying take out the egghead’s tech, numbnut.” He winked at Ward and shot him a quick smile before turning and launching back toward the action.
“Oh!” Ward’s eyes popped. “I can do that!”
Ward rose into the air once more and spotted Scarlett and Lantern below him, huddled in their make-shift fox hole. “Ms. Rage, I need your help. Are you ready for a family reunion?”
Revolution was keeling over, the lobotomy beam having its way with him. It had taken everything he had just to respond to Ward.
Out of options, he switched the suit onto auto mode and set Clay Arbor’s DNA scan as the target. The suit rushed forward, leaping, letting the cape catch the air, and Revolution slammed into Lithium—attacking its pre-selected target.
The impact lifted the two combatants into the air, and they slammed against the Capitol dome with a mighty clang.
To Revolution’s surprise, Arbor’s Lithium armor magnetized to the dome just the same as his did.
That’s new, he thought.
Revolution was magnetized to the dome with one arm and pounded Arbor repeatedly with the other.
Arbor swooned. He was going down.
His mouth was bloodied.
Without his suit’s magnetization he would have slid down the dome for sure. Revolution’s boots and knees affixed to the dome, freeing his arms, though he was barely aware of it.
Another hard right.
A punishing left.
The powerful mirrored lenses covering the top half of Arbor’s face cracked and finally shattered under the assault.
The big man could no longer defend himself. Revolution could feel himself slowly returning as the onslaught continued. With each blow Arbor’s Army-green helmet slammed the roof. A large dent grew in the cast iron of the dome.
Revolution paused. “Do you give up now, or should I continue?” he nearly whispered, out of breath.
Arbor’s now exposed eyes seemed glazed, they started to roll back in his head, when something caught them. They crystallized, focused. But they weren’t looking at the Revolutio
n. They were looking past him.
“I think you’re the one who’d better give up,” Arbor groaned.
Revolution checked his 360-degree cams.
And he saw them.
An entire squadron of X-1s had assembled behind him. He shook his head. The effects of Arbor’s new and improved lobotomy beam were still sloshing around in his brain. He’d been so out of it and so focused on defeating Lithium he hadn’t even noticed his warning system tracking them. Now he saw the red light flashing in his HUD, trying to alert him.
The Revolution leaped from the dome, landing on the roof of the Senate’s chambers. He spun toward the helicopters. And nearly fell from his awkward balance, or lack of it, as his mind still whirled.
He could hear Arbor behind him leap from the dome, crashing onto the roof, and start to chuckle. “You almost had me! Almost, sweetheart.” Arbor was trying his best to stand.
“Stay where you are!” came the loudspeaker voice from the closest Apache.
Arbor glanced up at the Revolution and smiled at the pilot in the lead chopper. “He ain’t going nowhere, Commander.” Arbor stood, made sure he had his balance.
“I repeat, stay where you are. Do not move!”
“I told ya— ” Arbor froze. His bloodied face blanched.
The Revolution turned menacingly. His eyes were clear now.
Arbor’s toothy, blood-filled grin fell to a scowl. The X-1s weren’t there for the Revolution, he realized. They were there for him.
Arbor stared into the eyes of the X-1 pilot. Steely determination beamed out of them. His guns were aimed squarely at Arbor’s head. The big man’s shoulders fell.
Just as the X-1 was blasted out of the sky in a ball of fire.
CHAPTER 57
Ward and Scarlett flew toward the Old Post Office the long way.
Whipping around the city, they came in from behind. Lantern shielded them on radar and other tracking devices, while Spectral and Reynolds kept the drones and the Aztech occupied. Von Cyprus was having target practice with the Minutemen from the Post Office’s Clock Tower.
The Suns of Liberty (Book 3): Republic Page 37