The man paused with thought, but before he could answer, Land continued, "It’s simply impossible. These reports are false, simple as that."
"Sir I don't-" Land stopped the man before he could go any further.
"Send out another thousand units. A full legion if you have to. I want to know what’s really going on out there, not something so ludicrous as a bunch of stupid, illiterate, inbred, indolent, idiotic miners defeating the most advanced force on the face of the planet!” Land's voice had risen to a yell, and he launched out of his chair and grabbed Treble by the collar, pure rage in his eyes, “And if your next report isn't satisfactory, I swear to god I will kill you and your entire precious family. That is all.”
He released Treble, and his demeanor quickly returned to normal as he patted some dust off of his pants and straightened his tie. He spoke calmly, perhaps insidiously so, “Go on. Find out what’s really happening. Shoo.”
Treble apologized for the obvious fabrications and dashed out of the office.
How the hell do I do make him believe what he refuses to believe? He’s right about one thing, we need Cabe in our possession. Maybe that Keyes guy would be of use.
He made his way into the Aerotec command center, and soon a massive force was marching down the highway. Estimated time of arrival at the Crucible: One Hour.
…
Stan stood at the dilapidated window of a house on the northern side of the highway, having just watched the first wave of Inquisition units move into the trap. “I can’t believe that worked Val, I mean really, you would think that by 2050 we’d have war robots that work well enough on their own to recognize a trap,” he spoke into a communicator since Val was directly across the highway from him, “I wonder if we’ll get to see any actual action.”
“Well Stan, it’s a lovely day here in New Columbia, the sun is out, the birds are nonexistent, and there’s a war going on. I love the smell of destroyed robots in the morning,” Val mocked a news reporter, then shifted her attitude, “But seriously, We’re basically scouts and-" Val was interrupted by one fo her scouts, and she quickly returned to Stan, "One of the boys said there’s another force moving now. It isn’t as well put together and organized as the first one, and there are a few stragglers. We might have to make a move on them, especially if there are aircraft.”
“Understood Val, let me send a message to Jack so he can aim those cannons skyward,” Stan rushed down the stairs to a radio of sorts since the communication devices didn’t work too well at this range. He had just made it to the unit when jet engines screamed overhead, accompanied in short order by three loud explosions to the southwest.
“That is not good at all," he grabbed the mic with extreme urgency and turned the device on, only to be met by static. “Shit!" Stan activated his communicator, "Val, Jack’s crew isn’t receiving, and we just heard those jets go overhead… Nyet… This can’t be happening.”
Val recived his message and sent out a runner to see if they could find some news.
…
“Aim those guns to the sky! Aim-” Jack’s orders were cut off when three warheads detonated around him, and he was quickly surrounded by fire and smoke. He yelled into the swirling chaos, “Where’s the radioman? We need Val and Stan to move on- Oh no….” As the smoke cleared he saw the spot where his communications team had been standing moments before. Where several men and a large radio set had stood, a large crater lay.
There isn’t even a bone to bury… Jack put the thought out of his mind and turned his attention to the crisis at hand, “Alright, machine gunners, aim those guns sky high. The bomber drones always go slow on their second go-around to find targets, so that’ll give you time to shoot them down.”
“Already on it sir!” One of his lieutenants shouted as his crew swiveled the massive machine gun upwards.
Jack chased down a couple of runners and gave them a message for Val and Stan, and then he ran back to commanding the forces, “Everyone else! Dig into the buildings, but don’t be on open ground as long as those bombers are online! It’ll take an hour for Aerotec to muster another force to come to attack us, and that’s more time to prepare than we had before, but it won’t matter if we don’t kill those drones. So dig in, make foxholes if you think you can, or go roundup anyone you can to join us in the fight. Be back here in thirty minutes.”
Jack grabbed a chair on the southern side of the highway and put his chin atop his steepled hands. Well… at least it started well. At least I’m not dead. At least we have a chance.
“Bombers!” Not a second after Jack heard the shout the machine guns opened fire, their barrels thundering with desperation. The shrill sound of metal tearing itself apart reached his ears moments before an explosion signaled the death of a drone bomber as its fuselage crumpled against the ground. This was followed seconds later by a massive chain of explosions as the first plane’s payload exploded and caught the third drone with shrapnel, sending it plunging to the ground behind the fortification.
The middle plane made it further down the road before slamming into the ground in feeble comparison to its comrades' fiery demise. Scottstown must have hit the navigation systems or something.
The smoke had cleared when a little girl tugged on Jack’s shirt, “Mister Jack? Miss Valerie wanted to know if everything is okay down here,” she glanced around at all of the wreckage, “Is everything okay down here?”
“It’ll be fine, but tell her that I need her and Stan to set up an ambush for whatever force is coming our way, while I move my men forward,” Jack answered kindly and slowly so she’d understand enough of it that they got the idea.
She piped out cheerily, "Yes sir Mister Jack!”
He read the name tag on her lapel, “Margaret eh? Whose kid’re you?”
“Papa Joe takes care of me now, ever since Ma and Pa died in the mine. But we’ll show those mean boss people! Miss Valerie said that once this is over, no one else is going to die because of those mean Aerotec people, that’s why I want to help! I need to go tell Miss Valerie what you said, that everything is gonna be fine!” She whipped her little blonde pigtails, looking cute as a button despite the dust and the war paint. She pranced off in the direction whence she came.
Or she was prancing until a shell exploded a few feet away and filled her with shrapnel. Jack lunged out of his seat when he heard the missile and tried to get to Margaret before the shell hit the ground, but he was too late. He was blown back by the blast and made it to her just as she realized why she was on the ground staring at the sky instead of whistling a happy tune as she carried a message. Jack cradled her in his arms, knowing there was nothing he could do, He yelled for a medic, but it was too late.
Her weakening eyes focused on his, the tears already welling in his eyes. Her breath rattled in her chest, and she tried to speak, “M-mis-mister Ja..k? Is.. is.. is everything g-going to be okay? It.. it hurts Mister Jack…”
“I know Margaret, just focus on me. We aren’t going to let you die without a fight,” Jack softly while holding back his tears, trying to be strong as he held a dying girl in his arms, “Just don’t leave me okay? It’s… it’s gonna be fine.” He tucked a blood-soaked strand of hair behind her ear.
“Will I get to… see mommy and daddy again?” She weakly raised her hand to pat Jack’s scruffy face, but only succeeded in giving him a bloody handprint on his cheek.
“Yes Margaret, you will. Please, stay with me…” But it was too late. Where the weak pulse of life had been in her eyes, only a hollow shell remained. She was gone. Jack lowered his head to her chest, sobbing quietly.
The medic arrived, but Jack shooed him away. He spoke in a dark voice as if a well of anger was bubbling just under the surface, “Tell the next-in-command that I’m going to Commander Valerie’s position. Don’t wait for me.” The medic backed away slightly and nodded before dashing off. Jack lowered his head and picked Margaret up, carrying her like a babe asleep in his arms.
Chapter 27
There was a fain
t knock at the door, and it was followed by a more urgent rapping. Val jumped up and rushed to the door hoping to find little Margaret with news about Jack. She opened the door to find Jack standing there with shining paths carved by tears out of the dust and blood on his cheeks and a small, bloody handprint on the side of his face. In his arms was… Oh my god…
“Margaret, no… Nononono this can’t be. No,” Val petted her sweet little face, “Jack I’m sorry... I’m so sorry… I’ll-I’ll go and contact her grandfather.”
“Not with her like this. Clean her up and make her a hero. I’m going to hunt down the bastard that fired that shell and shove the next one down his throat.” Jack laid Margaret on a sofa and was gone without another word, leaving Valerie before she was able to say another word to stop him, or even grieve.
“You guys heard him. Let’s get her cleaned up, someone go and get a clean dress for her. Oh god….”
...
Jack marched ahead through the slums, passing by the rusty enclosures with a hood over his head. Someone was going to pay, and Jack wouldn’t stop there. He didn’t care if he was captured or killed, but people were going to die for what happened to that little girl. No, not just some little girl. She had a name, Margaret. She was an orphan and a patriot. She would have her revenge. Jack would have his revenge. The bastard that filled her full of shrapnel and ended her life would pay tenfold. Jack came to the great divide.
There was caution and warning tape across the section of the road here as well as a guard. Jack walked up to him, seeing that he was human rather than mechanical, “Hey, uh, mister, what’s with all the tape?”
“None of your business, citizen. Aerotec is suppressing the rebellion tonight, didn’t you hear? The artillery boys have been trying to nail down their little fortification down the road for about half an hour now-” The guard was stopped midway through his sentence when Jack lunged at him and shoved a gun against the bottom of his chin.
Jack growled with primal rage, “You mean the artillery boys that just filled a little girl with shrapnel? You mean the artillery boys who made me hold a little girl in my arms as she died? Today’s your lucky fucking day bud, because you’ve got the head of the entire rebellion right here, and he’s pissed,” Jack pulled his hood down to reveal the bloody handprint and the streams from his tears, “Tell me where they are so I can kill every last one of them for what they did, and I’ll make your death quick and painless!"
“Holy shit dude, okay! Please don’t kill me!” The big man quivered in his place, arching his head back to get away from the gun barrel, “They’re to the left immediately after you go through, can’t miss ‘em, big guns on tracks, that’s all I know, please don’t kill me…”
“Leave Aerotec and join the resistance, or just quit your job and live with your family. I don’t care. But if you backstab me, I will track you down and I will kill you for it.” Jack finished with a snarl and stomped off in the direction of the artillery pieces. The guard made a run for the bathrooms.
…
Stan grabbed his communicator as soon as he heard it beep. He answered gruffly and morosely, “What did you find out, Val?”
She answered with a trembling voice, “Stan, Jack’s gone off the deep end. One of our runners got killed by a shell or something, and he’s gone, Stan. Jack is gone. He left her here, muttered a threat against Aerotec, and left before I could even comprehend what was going on. We need to move our forces up, maybe even make a move on the wall.”
Stan muttered a curse in Russian, “Val we can’t, we only have -at most- 500 men, at least ten percent of which are wounded. We can’t make a move on Aerotec, and we sure as hell can’t give Jack any support.”
“Dammit, Stan! He needs us! I can’t let him get himself killed!” But before either of them could say another word, it started.
…
Jack came across the artillery soon enough. Groups of men were milling about the machines like it was a Sunday picnic. He backed away slowly while a devious plan formed within his mind, and ran away to a building that could see over the wall. He grabbed the plasma rifle off of its sling around his neck.
You bastards may just be doing your job, but you were doing your job when you fired blindly into New Atlanta with incendiary shells, and you were damned well doing your job when you killed little Margaret. God have mercy on your souls.
He took aim at one of the many piles of ammunition. Did they seriously think us so incompetent that we couldn’t get them here? Fools. He aimed and fired round after round into the pile of shells, and soon a cacophonous wave of thunder drowned the land.
…
“So, Alf, how’s the day been?” An artillery worker spoke to his friend, having just started his break.
“It's been going. That bit with that shantytown was pretty fun, just getting to fire willy nilly like that, and- the hell... “ Alfred heard the distinct zing of a plasma rifle. He had barely recognized the fact that the artillery yard was being shot at before the ground in front of him was atomized by fragmentation shells exploding one after the other, his life spared only by the wall of the building he was in. But that wouldn’t stand for very long.
He picked himself up off of the ground -since when was I on the ground?- and began to run in the opposite direction. It was only a few moments later that he realized his legs didn’t work. He didn’t know where Jimmy went. The building creaked above him and his heart filled with fear.
…
Back at the Crucible fortification, the massive explosion could be seen and felt as the shockwave and roar of the explosions reached them. Where there had been a large wall of white buildings there was now a fireworks show of death, with billowing clouds of smoke and fire accompanied by numerous secondary explosions.
Jack had dealt a blow to Aerotec, but not just Aerotec: He had blown a literal hole in one of the great symbols of Aerotec’s suppression, the Glittering Oppressor, The Great Wall of pristine apartments.
Stan and Val decided then and there to stop bickering about giving Jack support. This was an opportunity that they might never have again.
Seamus Connally received the order through his personal communicator. He went to the tattered Crucible flag and uprooted it before speaking with the authority of a king, “Everyone! Look upon what Jack has done! For one death, he has avenged a hundredfold, but we do not stop here! Take up your weapons, charge for the Resistance, charge for New Columbia! Bring the trucks, and let’s ride to death or glory!”
The resistance mounted up in what vehicles they had and began a mad charge toward the Inner City. What few forces Aerotec had left within the Outer City were in for a rude awakening.
But so too was the resistance.
Chapter 28
Jack was running for his life, pursued by a squad of Inquisitors, security drones, and a mad bounty hunter. He heard the clank of Inquisitors behind him and pulled out his revolver. He’d had to ditch the plasma gun after it ran out of ammo or batteries or whatever. He started running again and clutched his hand to his side where a drone had tagged him with a barbed tracker of some sort. That was new. It’s gotta come out Jack…
He braced himself, wrapped his fingers around the tracker, and quickly ripped it out. That is a lot of blood. Gotta.. leave a message for Val. I can’t... Can’t die yet… He tossed the tracker over his shoulder and ducked down into another alley, making his way to the outpost where Val had been set up. He pulled his bloody hand from his side and managed to grab a pen and paper before quickly writing down his message. He pulled out his revolver and placed it atop the note as a paperweight.
“Oh, Cabe! You can’t run for long with that hole in your side!” a madman’s voice called out from the street. Good, he doesn’t know where I am specifically. That’s… that’s good. I gotta go… maybe I can make it back to… no that’s no good, I can’t lead him towards the bases… I’m on my own until the Resistance returns from this crusade…
…
Stan and Val were stan
ding side by side or, rather, truck by truck. The resistance was pushing forward against a large contingent of extremely terrified workers and stone-cold droids, and they were about to make a foothold in the Inner City. The wall of white apartments was darkened with soot from the massive fire that was raging in the wake of Jack’s artillery field attack, and teams of firefighters on both sides rushed to combat the blaze while the armies rushed to meet each other, and the fire in the buildings was so bad that the bomber drones had stopped flying. That meant that the Resistance could either continue the push or stop where they were.
“Stan, I know this is a fight for all of New Columbia, but we aren’t conquerors. Let’s stop here at the great divide and hold our position. I’m gonna go see if I can find Jack,” Val ordered her driver to turn the beat-up truck around, and Stan began ordering the rest of the Resistance forces to build another barricade.
"Come on Jack, where are you?" Val muttered to herself, ad the small truck raced into the ashes of the Glittering Divide.
…
Jack was running on fumes. He stumbled through the portal of another alleyway and knocked over a trashcan in the process. He couldn’t quite think straight, and his side was numb. I can’t… I can’t keep running like this… It had all gone south after he blew up that artillery yard. He was quickly seen by other guards thanks to the distinct sound of his plasma rifle, and before he could make his daring escape he’d been tagged by some sort of drone. And thus began this mad run for his life, but at this point whoever was tracking him wouldn’t need a high-tech tracker. They could just follow the trail of blood.
...
Val knew something was up when she saw the door to the outpost was open, and her blood went cold when she saw the bloody handprint on it. “Jack? Jack, are you here? I can call for a medic if you’re hurt!” She drew her own pistol and pushed the door open, and then she saw Jack’s gun and the note under it. She didn’t bother reading it, especially when she saw the blood trail. She grabbed his gun and ran after him, hoping to God that she wasn’t too late.
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