Floor 21- Dark Angel

by Jason Luthor

  Yousef waves him off. “You have my blessing. Leave only enough behind to protect the city in case of an attack from raiders or the Creep.”

  “Of course,” he says as he grabs at his tablet and rushes out of the room. The second he’s gone, Branagh looks over at Watson.

  “I understand you’re under a lot of strain, doctor, but still. It would have been nice to know.”

  Watson’s eyes are pinned at the table as he avoids looking at anyone. “I’ve been asking for weeks for the most meager crumbs of support . . .”

  “Fine. Fine, there’s nothing we can do about it now.” He looks over at Yousef. “I’m assuming you’ll be leading this military venture, seeing as how you’re basically in command of both our forces at this point.”

  “I won’t be there without you, President Branagh,” he replies. “A man cannot lead alone.”

  Branagh nods as his features soften a little. “It’s . . . appreciated.”

  For the first time, Dravic motions with his hand and starts to speak. “If I may say, now may be the best time to alert all citizens to stay indoors until this emergency has been handled. We can seal the buildings in case of any attack and have Yousef’s forces stationed at critical intersections throughout the city.”

  “Sounds like a plan I can get behind. We’ll have the War Council here, of course.”

  “If I might be so bold, I believe it would be important to also have the Advisory Council here.”

  “The Advisory Council?” He looks confused for a second. “Any particular reason?”

  “They could coordinate efforts in their districts from here. There’s no place safer and losing any one of them would be a tremendous loss. We’d lose the ability to communicate as effectively as possible with their districts.”

  Branagh sits there for a just a minute before nodding. “Alright. Let’s just make sure we have multiple ways of communicating throughout Central in case any one line of communication goes down. And I want Representative Tan to head out to Second Freedom across the river to coordinate efforts there. He’s got plenty of experience handling organization and the distribution of resources under pressure. We’ll need someone handling things out there if the war comes to us.”

  “I will see to it all personally.”

  “Thank you, Nikola.” He pauses and takes a deep breath. “Doctor Watson. This Panzer. Give it to us straight. What sort of firepower are we looking at here?”

  Watson looks over at the president, still obviously seething under that tight skin of his, but he manages to punch at the buttons on his tablet. A second later, there’s a technical blueprint projected on the screen behind me. The doctor waves at it and grumbles, “Have a look for yourself. The Panzers were created to stand roughly between 250 and 300 feet tall, or roughly the size of a 30-story building. I will say, something of interest to note is that the Panzer we are dealing with survived the war specifically because of its size and durability. In fact, it was among the premier weapons of its kind, and so we should expect it to be the maximum height for one of these creations. As for firepower . . .” He chuckles. That’s scary.

  “Remembering that these were created to be the ultimate lines of defense against any invading armies and that the Panzers only fell because of the Creep . . . There are multiple shoulder and collar mounted anti-aircraft emplacements consisting of both missile defenses and flak weaponry, in addition to energy-based weaponry. Thanks to the extraordinary firepower it is equipped with, the Panzer can create a shield of weapons fire around itself that will be difficult to penetrate from the skies.”

  Branagh lowers his head. “Hell.”

  “Of course, that’s only the weaponry across the shoulder mounts. We can’t forget the weapons mounted along the lower torso. The torso breastplate is lined along the lower ridge, toward the hip, with nearly the same amount of firepower except designed to fire downward, at incoming ground forces. Then there is, of course, the back mounted missile launcher which is designed to fire larger warheads skyward with the intent of them raining down on enemies at a massive distance. These back mounted launchers were intended to fire nuclear warheads during the Panzer’s original creation, but the raiders have, unsurprisingly, been unable to obtain such weaponry. Nuclear warheads weren’t exactly stored willy nilly throughout the world, even at the height of Apeiron’s hubris.” He pauses when he realizes everyone’s staring at him with the same blank expression. “Ah, well, for expediency’s sake, let us merely say that should the Panzer have had access to nuclear warheads that I’d be recommending an evacuation of the city and a negotiated surrender. It doesn’t. Now, for a final note, the machine’s right arm contains a second piece of technology that is also not operational. A railgun. Let us, once again, be grateful that the Panzer is only partly operational and is currently only functioning with traditional military capabilities.”

  Branagh raises a finger. “Care to elaborate on the railgun’s power?”

  “Without getting bogged down in technical details, the Panzer’s railgun uses electromagnetic force to launch projectiles at such a high velocity, they strike with the impact of the strongest missiles in existence. A hypersonic rail round cannot be intercepted using traditional methods, and the closer to the target, the greater the impact of the round. Of course, on a mobile weapons platform such as a Panzer, that makes a railgun perhaps the greatest threat to survival outside of weapons of mass destruction. Missiles and warheads can be intercepted, but a railgun round could wipe out entire armies given the Panzer’s mobility.” His eyes shift to Yousef. “Even your vaunted Dynamis would be unable to endure more than a few strikes from such a weapon. Be grateful the Panzer is not yet operating at full capacity.”

  “Oh, our one saving grace,” the president says as he wipes at his forehead with his hands. “Well, how the hell do we take this thing down? It’s got firepower that could wipe out our entire air force and apparently it can do the same to our ground troops. What’s the strategy for taking this thing out?”

  Yousef shakes his head. “Of course, it would be possible to assault it from the ground with well-hidden forces. I understand it can move, but I’m assuming it’s not incredibly mobile?”

  The doctor shakes his head no. “For a creation of its size, it’s actually quite mobile. Of course, it can’t maneuver nearly as well within the city as smaller forces, but I still wouldn’t assume it’s some lumbering piece of awkward metal.”

  “Then what about its armor? Can we punch through it with enough force?”

  “That’s difficult to say. Most of its plating from before the war seems to be intact, so anything else than overwhelming firepower would do little against it. There are only two points where the damage is extensive. The legs seemed to have taken a fairly heavy amount of damage from engagements with the Creep, and much of the armor there has been blasted off or corroded. Then there’s the head. The head has lost its frontal panel, exposing the control bridge to open air.”

  Branagh leans in. “So, if we could get just one well-placed missile there . . . ?”

  “The likeliness of such a thing is overwhelmingly improbable. Besides the shoulder mounted weaponry, the head itself is protected by a half dozen flak guns designed specifically to tear apart anything targeting that area of the Panzer. Missiles would never break through. They simply don’t have the maneuverability.”

  And then, like clockwork, it’s like I can’t help but say, “I’m maneuverable.”

  The whole room looks my way, but nobody says a thing. They just stare at me for a long second with their mouths hanging open. Honestly, I don’t blame them. It takes Tommy to break the silence, and even he seems like he can barely get the words out. “Jackie, I . . . You have to know how insane that sounds.”

  “Does it?” I look over at Yousef. “What’s the normal length for the missiles you use on the Dynamis?”

  He stumbles for words for a second before spitting out, “Ah, about 20 feet, with the booster. The Talons carry smaller missiles. A
bout 12 feet in length.”

  “Great. I’m smaller than both of them, and I can pull turns that no missile can.” I actually can’t believe the stuff coming out of my mouth. “I can make the dodges in time. The tech in my suit makes it easier for me to get out of the way faster. Plus, my training.”

  Branagh cuts back in. “Yes, Jackie, but we’re still talking about facing down dozens of anti-aircraft weaponry. You’d never make it through on your own.”

  “Then don’t send me on my own. Clear a way for me. Use missiles, use something, I don’t care. Just draw some of that firepower away and give me a better chance of getting onto the control bridge. I land, take out the Tank, and then we don’t have to worry about bringing the Panzer down. Instead of focusing so much on wondering how we keep even just a few troops alive to maybe punch through the armor, we can game plan this to make sure I get onto the bridge and do my thing.” When I finish saying it all, I almost can’t believe what I’m telling them, but . . . then again, it’s me. “Look, do we have any better choices here? If you figure something out between today and tomorrow, fine. If not . . .”

  Branagh nods and looks over at Yousef. “What do you think about all this?”

  Yousef stares at me, his eyes open wide like he still can’t digest what I’m willing to do. “I . . . Yes. She has a point. If we can come up with something else . . .”

  “We can put all our best minds on figuring out something. Then, if we don’t . . .” He looks up at me. “Then we go with your plan.”

  Tommy doesn’t look happy. He just shakes his head a few times before looking back at me. “Jackie. This is borderline suicide. You could die. Again.”

  “So could everyone else on this mission, Tommy. They’re still willing to put it all out there, and they don’t have Creep in their veins and a suit of armor that’s about three generations ahead of any of the tech you guys are using. Besides,” I can’t help but smile as I say my next words, even if I know Tommy doesn’t completely appreciate it, “I’ve already died once before. That didn’t exactly stop me.”

  Dodger’s Recording 15

  Tommy puts the rifle in my hands and says, “You’ll have to be block leader again. I know it’s not something you want to do . . .”

  I mean, how could he guess? “Tommy, if I wanted to put anyone’s life at risk again, I’d have gone back to the militia.”

  “Yeah, I understand that, but people’s lives are going to be at risk tomorrow anyway. The fact is, I can either give this assignment to one of Yousef’s men, or you. These people know you though, Dodger. They trust you. The families in this building are all militia families. You’ve cooked with them and been around their kids. I’m not going to make you do it, but . . .”

  “It’s cool. No, no, I get it.” I tighten my fingers around the rifle. “Yeah. I don’t have to fire at anyone. I probably won’t even have to.”

  “Exactly.”

  “And if there is an emergency, I honestly just need to keep everyone calm while we evacuate.”

  “Right.”

  I let out a breath and just feel like this pressure is releasing out of me. “I suck at convincing myself of stuff like this. I can do it, though.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Look, I’m really over complaining about this stuff when everyone’s out there doing what they have to. Maybe I’m not cut out for being back in the militia, but I can still protect people somehow. I mean, I want to try.” I shake my head. “No. I’ll make sure it happens.”

  Tommy smiles at me. “That’s what I’m talking about. You won’t have any militia support. This is basically all hands on deck to make sure that Panzer doesn’t get close to the city. If it’s got its missile payload loaded, then it won’t need to get very close before it can just bombard all of Central Freedom.”

  “Doesn’t seem like I’m going to have to do anything. If the raiders don’t get here in the Panzer, do you think they’ll still try and invade again across the bridges?”

  “I don’t know. That’s why we need someone like you in charge, just in case they try.”

  “I’ll probably need to check in with the rest of the families, then. You know, get a headcount on everyone that’s going to be in the building and make sure all the adults have weapons. It’d be a slaughter if we tried to head out there without some way of defending ourselves.”

  “You’ll still have some of Yousef’s forces here to help with escorts. I know you don’t like them. Hell, you know how I feel about them. Still, if there’s a firefight, try to work with them to get the civilians to safety. That’s really all that matters.”

  “Right. Yeah, obviously I’ll put our differences aside. It’s not like I want Mrs. Johnson from down the hall dying just because I don’t like Fort Silence.”

  “Plus, you know, Yousef’s got skin in the game on this one, too. He’s putting a lot on the line here. His ground forces, his air force, hell, even the Dynamis. It’s a big risk for him, so I’m inclined to trust him. At least this once. If we go down, he goes down.”

  “So, we’re thinking that the threat of total annihilation is what’s making Yousef behave?”

  “That’s my guess.”

  I smile and look away. “Do you remember when life was simpler? When our enemies were faceless zombies or superhuman monsters like Judge?”

  “Don’t tell me you miss those days,” he laughs.

  “Tommy, we nearly got strung up from the ceiling and crushed to death by the Creep. I think I’m a little too traumatized to miss anything having to do with those times. No, it’s not that I miss those days. I just guess it was easier to understand guys like Judge than it is to understand guys like Yousef. You know, a guy who has a flying warship from five hundred years ago.”

  “Guess understanding him better would make life a little easier, right?”

  “Yeah, it’d be nice to know for sure that the guy I’m fighting with isn’t remotely thinking about killing me.”

  “I think that’s why I like the militia. Maybe it’s why I want you to come back. At least I know the guys I’m fighting with would have my back.”

  I hold up the rifle he’s just handed me. “One step at a time there, captain.”

  He turns away for just like, the quickest second, before he turns around to see me. “Dodger, if things do go south . . .”

  “Don’t say anything, Tommy. Really. I don’t need to hear it.”

  “No, it’s just . . .” He looks at me for a long time, to the point that I almost think something’s wrong. The poor guy fidgets there like he doesn’t know what to do with his hands while he rocks back and forth on his feet. I can actually see him swallow hard when he looks at me. “I just needed to say that . . . I love you, is all.”

  Of course, like a dummy, I tell him, “Shut up.”

  At least he laughs. “Hey, I needed to say it. Or, I wanted to. At least, before tomorrow.”

  And then I’m just looking at this guy who, even at his worst, is the only person I’d want to be with. So, yeah, I know exactly how I feel about him. “I love you too, Tommy.”

  Jackie’s Recording 20

  It probably isn’t an hour after the meeting closes up when I get the ring at my quarters. I already have a hunch about who it is when I answer the door. Mounted up in my suit, I stand about a half foot taller than him. Pretty big difference from the night when we first hung out. “Yousef.” There’s not much else to say. “Can I help you?”

  He just stands in the doorway for a second before saying, “I wanted to let you know I would be giving up the title of general after this battle.”

  Hearing that makes me shake my head, and I can’t help but take a step back into the room. “Uh, come in. Come in.”

  “I appreciate the gesture.”

  “It’s not . . .” I sigh in frustration because I just don’t get the guy. “Tell me what this is all about.”

  “I know how much we’ve struggled to see eye to eye on many, many things.” He folds his hands toge
ther, and I can see him searching for words. “Since you arrived, I’ve been absolutely clear that I feel it’s important for there to be a strong, central authority. A guiding power. I feel sometimes you’ve agreed with me, sometimes not.”

  “Like when your men were pointing guns in the faces of people I know, right?”

  “Yes. Just like that.” He sighs. “I won’t ever be able to give up my instincts, but maybe the role of general sends the wrong message. Maybe it’s time I tried to be a person of the people. I could take on a civil role.”

  “You’re seriously going to tell me that you plan on becoming, what? A representative? Run for office or something?”

  “Maybe I’m not that humble. With my experience and history, I feel I could fill an executive role sooner than later. But, I am serious about stepping down as general.”

  “And leaving your troops and all of Fort Silence in the hands of your other generals, right?”

  “What I intend to do is leave Central Freedom in the hands of its people. I still have a fort to run, but I don’t intend to dictate to Central what they need to do. Not after this last battle is over. Central’s own leaders will run Central, not me.”

  I squeeze my fist and put a hand to my neck, my helmet washing away in blue light. “I don’t understand you, Yousef. One week I think we’re on the same page, the next your troops are abusing people in the streets and arresting them. Then you come in here and tell me you really do want to make changes. Why am I supposed to believe anything you say?”

  “When you asked me to stop the wire taps, I did. I didn’t give the orders to take medical supplies, but I sent out orders to make sure something like that never happened again.”

  “But you ordered people to get stopped on their way out of Central because you were paranoid they’d be raider spies?”

  His head falls, and I see his hands shaking. “I told you I would give up my title. As the bard wrote more than a thousand years ago, ‘My crown I am, but still my griefs are mine. You may my glories and my state depose but not my griefs. Still am I king of those.’”