Reddened Wasteland (21 page)

“When we get to the top, you veer off and head for the
service elevator to the roof. Their forces should be almost entirely guarding
the control room. You will have a free path there, just stay smart about it,”
Thorin yelled over the sound.

“Got it!” She yelled back as the platform finally came
to a stop and the men charged forward, slashing their swords wildly at The
Union soldiers waiting for them.

Thorin turned to Velar before he hopped off the
platform, “Be careful, and make sure to attach the device to the tower itself,
then stay there until we get our support. We’ll come find you when it’s over.”

Velar had a worried look over her face as she said her
goodbyes to Thorin, “I’ll make sure it is done. Please don’t get hurt.” Thorin
just smiled at her, then leapt from the platform, plunging his sword into the
back of a Union soldier.

She darted off to the side, trying her absolute best
not to be noticed. Her stealth armor was nice, but she wished it had an
invisibility feature. The pressure was incredible, everyone was counting on
her, now. Her heart was pounding so hard that she couldn’t tell if she was
actually being quiet, or the pulse in her ears was just drowning out everything
else.

The service elevator was completely unguarded, so she
climbed in and pressed the button to take it to the top. The door slammed shut
and she rested her back against the wall as it started moving up, thankful for
the brief respite from the chaos. Alone with her thoughts, she worried about
Thorin, hoping he would make it through the battle. She worried about Alerik,
if he was still alive he undoubtedly heard that explosion and would have jumped
at the chance to strike back at The Union. The thought of losing either—or
both—of them was devastating. The only thing more frightening than that, was
failure.

When the elevator finally reached the top, the door
slid open. She peered out onto the roof, her heart sunk. A group of men were
guarding the tower with their guns ready. There was very little on the roof to
hide behind, just a couple of steel beams sticking out of the roof and parts of
the ventilation system that pumped air into the building.

When she found an opening, she crawled quietly out of
the elevator and moved into the shadow cast by one of the beams.

“Well, fuck. Now what?” she whispered to herself.

The
entire Children of Old army, along with Alerik and his crew had been marching
for a good hour when a bright flash appeared off in the distance, followed by a
loud boom. Alerik shielded his face as the shockwave passed through the group. 

“Everyone
alright?” he asked, looking around to make sure everyone was still standing.

“Yeah,
but we need to pick up the pace. Seems they started the party without us,”
Saskia said with her hand on her hip.

Cinine
was at the front of the pack with Valek at her side and was urging everyone to
ignore the blast and just keep moving. As the group advanced through the
settlement, they noticed people had closed their doors and we keeping inside.
It seemed people were aware of what was going on and were anticipating trouble.

“Alerik,
come up here with me,” Cinine motioned for Alerik to hurry.

He
moved forward with Saskia and Lucius at his side, “Ready to tip the scales?” he
asked.

“As
ready as we can be, given the circumstances. You know what you need to do once
we get there. Don’t make any mistakes. If you do, this world will be plunged
into darkness for generations.”

“Don’t
worry, when you say things like, ‘plunged into darkness for generations’, that
really takes the pressure off. Gives me nerves of steel,” Alerik said
sarcastically. Behind him, Lucius snorted.

“I
am not trying to put extra weight on this mission, just stressing the gravity
of it,” she fired back, “You need to make sure you get to that tower. As soon
as we hit any resistance, you need to break off from the group. We can’t risk
another injury,” she gestured between Alerik, Saskia and Lucius. She had a
point, they were all pretty beat up. But hey, it wasn’t
his
idea to
start this thing before they had time to heal.

“Eh,
we have made it this far. Another little fight won’t be the thing to kill us,”
he said with a smile.

“Try
not to get overconfident. Don’t let your pride ruin this mission,” her voice
was stern.

“Okay,
okay. I got it. Relax, we will get the job done,” Alerik nodded in annoyance.

“Don’t
get smart with me! You’ll get the smack you’ve been needing your whole life,”
she smiled. Even though she was old, the grandma act was incredibly bizarre
coming from her severe, armor-clad frame.

She
continued, “Once you reach the tower, use this to alert us so that we can get
back to The Den,” she said, handing him a flare gun.

“Got
it,” he said, taking the gun from her hand.

As
they approached the building that was now engulfed in flames, the group spotted
the mangled bodies of several Union soldiers. The air surrounding the place was
smoky, the smell of burning flesh saturated the air.

“What
could have happened here?” Alerik asked Cinine.

“I’m
not sure,” she moved closer to the building and peered inside.

Through
the smoke, they could see a few disabled vehicles that had been set ablaze,
along with several bodies on the ground in heavy armor.

“These
men were part of Liberty’s Hammer…” Cinine remarked, “They are the only people
in the settlement that can craft armor that well.”

Alerik
smiled, “That’s what I like to hear. Let all the assholes cancel each other
out, then the good guys can swoop in and fix everything.”

“Based
on the path of destruction, I would have to say that they were headed towards
the tower. This must have been a satellite base,” Saskia chimed in.

“You’re
probably right. Seems The Union found one of their locations and attacked
before they could get their pants up,” Cinine said back.

“Then
we follow their trail. It should lead us right to the fight,” Valek said as he
started to follow the trail of bodies.

Alerik
nodded to him and followed, the rest of the group close behind. After a few
hours of walking, they weren’t far from the tower. The sound of chaos became
louder with each step. Alerik hated Liberty’s Hammer, but had to admit that
taking on The Union alone was petty ballsy.

Every
step closer to the tower revealed its enormous stature. It was a massive,
imposing reminder that everyone in the settlement was under total control. Up
ahead, a dense swarm of men battled for power and glory. The sounds of war were
becoming more crisp. Audible screams and the clashing of metal were heard off
in the distance.

“We
don’t have far to go now,” Cinine said, placing her hand on Alerik’s shoulder,
“You should break off now, I don’t want you in this fight.”

“Seriously?
You don’t want any help, whatsoever? We could take out a few of them on the
way, make it a bit easier for you,” Alerik tried to protest.

“We
cannot risk it. Fate has decided another fight for you. Another path. We will
meet again Alerik, whether in this life or the next,” she said with a smile.

“Way
to be a complete fucking downer. I’m sort of still optimistic we all make it
out of this alive,” he said.

“You
be optimistic, I’ll be realistic. Now go! We don’t have time to discuss this,”
she said in a low tone.

“Realistic…
Coming from a religious fanatic…” Alerik muttered under his breath before
feeling a sharp slap to the back of his head.

“My
ears still work,” Cinine said as she shook her hand at her side.

“Well
now mine don’t, thanks,” Alerik laughed as he began walking away with Saskia
and Lucius.

Cinine
smiled and watched on with Valek as the group disappeared down one of the side
streets.

***

Several
vehicles were parked outside of the service entrance when the group walked up.
Alerik slowly approached the vehicle closest to where the door used to be and
found a chain connected to a heavy metallic door that was laying on the ground.

“Looks
like someone beat us here,” Saskia said as she peered in the doorway.

“That
doesn’t make any sense. The battle is at the front of the building. Why would
someone try to come in this way?” Alerik said, thinking out loud.

“They
could have gone in knowing that the bulk of the forces would be where you say.
Perhaps they are looting, or going into the control room to kill Aldain,”
Lucius said as he stepped inside.

“You’re
probably right, though Aldain will be heavily guarded. Hopefully when we get to
the top, we find it cleared out, with everyone on both sides dead,” Alerik said
as he walked inside, looking around. The massive building was creepy before,
but the emptiness of it then added an unsettling element to the atmosphere.

Saskia
moved to the center of the building and found a large man in battered armor
draped over the guardrail. She pressed her fingers to his wrist to check for a
pulse, and quickly realized that he had been dead for a while. He was cold to
the touch.

“Alerik,
come check this out,” she called over to him.

Alerik
and Lucius walked over to where she was standing and without a word, he hoisted
the man over the railing, letting him fall into the void.

“Need
to make sure the fucker is dead,” Alerik grumbled.

Saskia
shook her head, “We need to use one of these platforms to reach the top. There
will be a service elevator near the control room. It will take us to the roof.”

Alerik
nodded in affirmation before walking over to one of the platforms, “This is it.
Let’s hope they’re not expecting us and this isn’t some sort of trap.”

“By
the looks of the Liberty’s Hammer soldier you tossed back there, I think the
fighting is probably over,” Saskia said as she climbed on.

The
platform began to rise as the group stayed on high alert. As they moved along, Alerik
took note of the marks in the wall where Union bolts had struck the surface. He
looked down towards his feet and found more of the same on the surface of the
platform, along with a smears and streaks of blood. 

“I
have a feeling we are standing where the majority of the fighting took place,”
Alerik said still looking around. All this, for one guy?

“I’d
have to disagree,” Lucius quipped as they reached the top and found bodies
scattered across the floor.

There
were dead Union soldiers, some of them androids with bits of wire poking
through their wounds, as well as Liberty’s Hammer men, with the usual, organic
mess pouring out of their wounds. Blood flowed in rivers under the corpses,
smearing down the walls. The room smelled of copper and death. As the group
navigated through, stepping over armored bodies, Alerik spotted the control
room off in the distance.

“Let’s
get a closer look,” he whispered as he motioned for his friends to follow.

They
crouched, inching closer and closer until they heard the sound of shouting.
Alerik peeked over into the control room to see a tall man with blonde hair and
shiny armor holding Aldain by the throat. It was satisfying how pathetic Aldain
looked at that moment, helplessly dangling at the end of some Liberty’s Hammer
brute’s arm. Alerik figured this was his chance to get rid of Aldain and kill a
few Liberty’s Hammer soldiers, all in one go. He started moving towards the
doorway when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I
know what you’re thinking Alerik, and no. We have a job to do. Let them kill
each other,” Saskia said between clenched teeth as she restrained Alerik.

“Saskia,
let go! This may be my only chance to end these assholes once and for all,” he
hissed back.

“Alerik,
she is right,” Lucius said, “Aldain is just a man, and men make mistakes, like
you are about to do now. You might have another chance at him, you won’t have
another chance to get to the radio tower. When it’s all over, you’ll have your
chance to avenge Velar.”

“So
I am supposed to just fucking walk away? After all they have done to us? All of
these assholes, with their fighting and their egos and their sneaky,
backstabbing bullshit. They took Velar from me and I can’t let that go,” he was
furious at them.

“Fine,
I will stay. I will see to it that they both die. You and Lucius head to the
roof and finish the mission,” Saskia hissed.

Before
anyone could respond, she stood up and walked into the open doorway to the
control room.

“I
can’t fucking believe she did that,” Alerik said, gritting his teeth in
frustration.

“I
can. She did always have a better head on her shoulders,” Lucius grinned. 

“Whatever,
let’s go. I’ll deal with her later,” Alerik grumbled. The pair worked their way
over to the service elevator and stepped inside, pressing the button that would
take them to the roof.

“Only
one thing left to do now. We get up there, send out the broadcast, and hurry
back to assist Saskia. Got it?” Alerik said.

“Yeah,
I figured that out the moment Saskia walked through the doorway. You keep
forgetting how slowly your minds work.” Lucius snickered.

“Can
it, robot,” Alerik rolled his eyes.

***

The
war raged on at the front of the building, with bolts sailing through the air,
and the mounted guns on the armored vehicles pumping out metal without cease.
As Cinine and Valek approached the scene, they took note of the damage, the
surrounding buildings were lit up in an intense inferno. Men and women were
screaming as they bled out on the ground, using their last bit of breath to
bellow their agony to the world.

Valek
sprinted into battle, swinging his heavy mace, and bringing it down onto a
Liberty’s Hammer soldier’s skull. The crunch it made brought a smile to
Cinine’s face. To watch an agent of evil meet his end so abruptly, it made her
so happy she could almost cry. It brought her back to her old glory days of
battle, though, even in her time, she never saw anything on this scale.

A
Union soldier moved in close to Cinine and aimed his gun towards her head, but
she ducked out of sight, moving with the crowd of warriors until she was right
up on him. She lashed out from the melee like a phantom, striking the soldier
in the chest, causing him to drop his gun. As the man doubled over, Cinine
dropped her mace onto his back with both hands, severing his spine.

Cinine
looked up and saw an abnormally tall man wearing interesting, well-crafted
armor. The man wielded a pair of pistols and looked to be wearing a knee brace.

“Hello,
Cinine,” the man said in a raspy voice.

“And
who might you be?” Cinine brought her mace back up to chest level.

“Oh,
how rude of me,” he offered bow, the gesture more ominous than respectful, “My
name is Elias. Nice to meet you.”

“Listen,
cut the shit. You know me for a reason, and I have a feeling I know why you’re
here. So, what are you waiting for?” she barked out the words as she gripped
her mace.

“Oh
fun! One that does not mince words. I always did love when people actually put
some thought into their last,” he smiled.

Cinine
lunged forward, swinging her mace vertically towards the ground in an attempt
to catch Elias off guard, but Elias was too quick. He simply side stepped the
attack and smacked Cinine in the face with the butt of his gun.