Counterattack, Part 6
The palace
Tania’s walkie-talkie buzzed. She picked it up. “Angelica? Where the
helvete did you go? You veered off Taleghani Street!”
“Long story, but apparently Josh had rocket launchers, so we improvised!” Angelica’s voice came through the static. “We’re in that mall to your right.”
Tania spotted the mall. “You know I can’t aim if you’re indoors.”
“Not if we’re by a window,” Angelica said, “There’s a food court overlooking the street. You’ll have a clear shot.”
“And when can I expect to get a clear shot?”
“I’d say…five to ten minutes, depending on how long 7B3 takes.”
“You went to
7B3?!”
“Like I said, I improvised! What about you? You free then?”
“Yeah, nothing’s changed for me—oh.” Tania heard the beating of helicopter rotors. She looked up and saw a Crusader helicopter approaching the palace, accompanied by a squad of aerial drones. Before the palace’s anti-aircraft guns could react, the helicopter and drones destroyed them with their missiles. One missile hit near Tania, sending her flying across the rooftop. As she tumbled across the floor, her rifle clattered out of her hands. “Ow,
föbannat!”
“Tani! You there?” Angelica said.
Her hand still clung on to the walkie-talkie. “Yeah, I’m here. I’m fine. Though it might be a while before I can snipe again.”
“What’s happened?”
“Well, we’re under attack, and I got blasted with a missile.” Tania stretched her arms, making sure nothing was broken. She shook loose some dust and rocks. “I think I’m fine, but I probably won’t be able to help until I deal with this. You’ll have to go to…7B1B, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Of all the times they could’ve chosen, they chose now…” Angelica muttered. “Please be fast, will you? We’re all counting on you.”
“I’ll try.”
“Okay. Angelica out.”
Tania got to her feet just as Thea and Magnus ran over.
“Tania!” Thea said. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Tania said, “A little rattled and scraped, but fine.”
She saw her rifle lying a few feet away and immediately went to retrieve it, but machine gun fire from a drone strafed the ground in front of her, forcing her back. She looked up and saw the drones had established full aerial control over the rooftop, and all of their guns were aimed at them.
“Well,
skit.”
---
The helicopter landed on the rooftop.
“Thea, tell me you have a way out of this,” Tania said.
Thea looked around her, trying to count her options. The stairwell was to their left, but it was guarded by drones. Her hand brushed against the pistol strapped to her belt. She would have to flip the safety off, and then she would have 8 bullets. Not enough for all of them, even if she had time to aim. To her right was the helicopter. Behind that was the fake reactor. Although the betharium and the fusion mechanism itself had been removed, she had installed some other features just in case. But it was too far away, and the drones were watching.
“I do, but it might take a bit,” Thea said.
The mall
Angelica and Alexandra reached the food court. Chairs were still stacked on top of tables, just as they would be before the shops opened. Nobody stood in line, and no cooks were putting together meals behind the counters. But most importantly, the windows were open, and they faced east. Angelica looked out one of the window and saw the street below, recognizing the Unter den Linden-like wideness of Chaharbagh Avenue. On the other side of Charharbagh Avenue, she saw the familiar historical architecture of the palace.
“Okay, this works,” she said.
“Uh, about that…” Alexandra pointed at the Crusader helicopter which had just landed on the palace rooftop, as well as the drones that hovered around it.
“Worse than I feared,” Angelica said, “Tani, please start sniping again when we need you.”
Looks like we’re going to 7B1B…where’s that hidden weapons cache?
Alexandra tensed up, hearing approaching footsteps. “Heads up!”
Angelica pulled out her pistol. “I’ve got this. You get to the cache.”
Leo entered the food court and spotted Angelica. Angelica raised her pistol and prepared to fire. At that moment, she recognized Leo’s face, and her mind flashed back to 9 years ago, to that fateful New Year’s Day. She recalled rushing into the halls of the Reichstag building, and then suddenly bullets started flying and her team was cut down by Argus security guards. Of course, she remembered Josh’s face, but she now remembered Leo and the others, although she didn’t know their names. Her leg twitched, as if remembering being shot. It was enough to throw off her aim. Her bullet struck a pillar next to Leo, while Leo’s bullets strafed the air inches away from her face. She ducked and crouched behind a trash can. Memories of Bloody Tuesday surged through her mind, blocking any attempts at coming up with a strategy.
“
Merde, not now!” she muttered.
Leo approached Angelica’s hiding place. He reloaded his gun, and Angelica could tell he was going to fire straight through the plastic bin. But she couldn’t will herself to move. Remembering Bloody Tuesday had paralyzed her.
Is this it? Is this how I’m going to join my team? Honestly, I couldn’t have picked a worse way to go out.
She then heard Alexandra shouting. She spun around in time to see Alexandra slam a steel baseball bat into Leo, knocking him onto the ground. Leo rolled over and aimed at Alexandra.
Come on, Angelica, this is no place to die! What are you going to tell your teammates? If even Alexandra can fight back, then so can I! In that split second, Angelica summoned all of her remaining willpower to move herself. Her arms pointed her gun at Leo, and she focused completely on pulling the trigger. A shot rang out, and Leo fell over, much of his neck gone. Alexandra stared at Leo’s dead body, still in shock at what just happened. “He’s…dead…”
“Yes, that’s what killing means,” Angelica said.
“It’s different, seeing it up close.”
“I know what you mean.”
Alexandra looked at her. “Does it ever get easier? The killing?”
Angelica shook her head, letting memories of Bremerhaven and France play out. “No, it doesn’t. The only thing you can do is hope you don’t have to kill again.” She checked her clip. It was empty, so she reloaded. “Speaking of which, let’s get moving. Josh and the other guy should be here soon.”
The palace
In the bunker, Gunduz heard a loud thump from above. “What’s going on up there?”
“Crusaders on the rooftop,” Shayan said, “They simply…flew over our ground defenses.”
“Anti-aircraft?”
“Destroyed.”
“Frak.”
“I’ve got men heading there right now,” Shayan said, “And I’ve already retasked an air squadron to intercept. They won’t break through to the lower floors.”
Gunduz looked at the map of Isfahan, focusing on the imperial eagle counter she had put near Sedeh.
“Ma’am?” Shayan said.
“Prioritize the safety of our civilians on the rooftop at all costs,” Gunduz said.
Shayan noticed her distant expression. “You’re thinking of her.”
“Why in the absolute frak did she do that? I don’t get it at all. She knows what will happen to her. But she did it anyways.”
“If there’s anything I learned while she was here, it’s that she’s just as stubborn as you are.”
Want to say that again to my face?! “You’re not wrong.”
“Thinking of doing something about it?” Gunduz glared at him, but Shayan did not waver. “I’ve served you for years. I know what that look on your face is. You want to go help.”
“You’re right,” Gunduz said, “I want to help her.”
“But you don’t know how.”
Gunduz said nothing.
“There’s a way, and Gebhard and I can help you with it. Hey, Gebhard?”
Gebhard walked over. “Yes?”
“Mind helping me and Her Majesty out with something?”
“Sure.”
Gunduz looked up. “What do you two have in mind?”
“You said you were certified, right?” Shayan smiled. “Well, let’s put that to good use, shall we?”
---
The helicopter’s door opened, and a squad of Crusaders jumped out. Theodor, clad in an exosuit of his own, climbed out and inhaled deeply. “Why is there so much gasoline in the air? Oh wait, that’s the helicopter downdraft.”
Thea put one hand on the pistol’s grip, even though she knew she wouldn’t even be able to draw it before the drones and Crusaders opened fire.
“Hello, Thea,” Theodor said.
“Theodor.” Thea refused to use the word “brother.”
He wouldn’t say “sister” to me, so why should bother? “Are you here to kill me?”
Theodor shrugged, in his usual flippant manner. “Perhaps. It depends on how you act in the next five minutes.”
“What do you want?” Thea said.
“For you to come to your senses, Thea!” Theodor held up his hands. “I just don’t get it. These people you’ve associated yourselves with were responsible for the decay of society. For everything wrong with our family. They killed our parents. Yet you’ve sided with them every step of the way. Why would you throw in your lot with those goddamned murderers over your own brother? Why do you help the very people who took our parents away?”
Thea narrowed her eyes.
He hasn’t changed at all. He’s saying exactly the same thing he did when we last met. “Are you frakking insane?!”
Theodor looked confused. He lightly laughed, trying to defuse the situation. “I…I don’t get it.”
“YOU DAMN WELL UNDERSTAND WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!” Thea raised her voice, taking some of Theodor’s rage for herself. “How the
frak can I, as you say, ‘come to my senses’ after everything you’ve done?! Mom and Dad would hate you for what you’ve become! I don’t think you even feel love for them anymore. You’re too filled with hatred and greed to be capable of remembering who they were. You know damn well why I’m not with you! My answer hasn’t changed in the slightest since the last we met!”
Theodor dropped the act and returned to being furious. “How frakking dare you! You disrespectful, insolent girl!”
One of the Crusaders walked up to Theodor. “The main drone force is on course to Kuhpayeh, sir.”
“Good,” Theodor said, “Wipe them out.”
Thea’s, Tania’s, and Magnus’ faces all paled. Theodor smiled at them with that obnoxious smugness of his. “That’s right, did you think I didn’t see fifteen million people evacuating over the course of a week? I did, and I’m going to fix that right now. I know exactly where they went.”
“You frakking monster!” Thea shouted, stepping forward.
The Crusaders pointed their guns in her face, and all of the drones focused on her as well.
“Me, a monster?” Theodor said. “Don’t make me laugh! You’re the one who threw in your lot with barbarians. You’re the one who keeps trying to sabotage and destroy everything we God-fearing Christians have built. All these thousands of years of civilization and culture, and you want to throw it into the gutter for some fire-worshipping sand equalists?
I am the good guy, the hero here!
I’m the one trying to preserve civilization! I am
saving our glorious nation! I am avenging our parents’ deaths! I am the only one who is still honoring their memories! You have no right to talk to your brother like this!
“If honoring their memory means killing over a billion people, I want no part in it.” Thea stood firm, holding her head high despite having almost a dozen guns pointed at her. “If saving a nation means inflicting countless atrocities and barbarities upon innocent millions, then maybe that nation deserves to die. And if it’s wrong to talk to my brother like this…then
maybe I don’t have a brother.” Her right hand covertly flipped off the gun’s safety.
Theodor’s face twisted into a demented rage-filled scowl. He activated the turret on his exosuit and aimed at Thea. “I see now that there is no chance to redeem you. Fine. If I’m not your brother,
THEN YOU’RE NO SISTER OF MINE!”
“LIKEWISE!” Thea drew her gun and prepared to fire.
The mall
Alex ran as fast as he could, using the sound of the metallic footsteps behind him to calculate how far away Josh was.
“WHY ARE YOU RUNNING? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?! STOP RUNNING LIKE A COWARD!” He could also use Josh’s yelling. “BE A MAN AND FACE ME!”
He never lets up about that, does he? Alex kept running. His legs burned and screamed out for relief, but he refused to stop. Adrenaline coursed through him, keeping him light and nimble. He had to make it to the end. A cable whizzed around the corner and shot straight for him, but he dodged to the right, and it clattered harmlessly to the floor.
That was a close one.
Finally, he reached the food court. He spotted Angelica and Alexandra by one of the tables. Alexandra lit up the moment she saw Alex. Both women readied their guns. Angelica had reloaded her gun with ammo from the cache, while Alexandra had picked up a pistol. Only Angelica was proficient enough to know how to operate a rifle, so they just tossed in as many pistols as they could get their hands on.
“Get ready!” Alex shouted.
Josh rounded the corner, Alex dove for the floor, and Angelica and Alexandra opened fire, emptying their clips at the armored soldier. Most of the bullets pinged off the exosuit’s armor, but a few landed some lucky hits. One struck the shoulder-mounted turret and sheared it clean off. Another grazed Josh’s helmet visor, shattering its glass. And a third hit Josh’s left hand gauntlet, breaking its outer case and allowing its detached cable to spill out onto the floor. Angelica pulled the trigger again, but her gun clicked. “
Merde! I’m out!”
Alexandra’s gun also clicked. “Same here!” Instead of reloading, she put down the gun and turned back to the cache, which Alex saw was in a hole in the floor, to get another gun.
Josh grinned. “You shouldn’t have done that.” He fired his right hand gauntlet’s cable. Angelica dove out of the way, but the cable hit her gun and punched through it, severing the handle and barrel before embedding in a pillar. While Josh struggled to retract the cable, Alexandra grabbed the cable and pulled, throwing Josh off-balance. He fell onto the floor with a yelp. “HOW DARE YOU, GIRL!” An electric whine came from a motor in the gauntlet as he got back on his feet. Realizing what it was, Alexandra immediately let go of the cable before she was electrified.
Seeing the cable still embedded in the pillar, Alex realized Josh’s right arm had been overextended, and he could make use of that fact. He grabbed a chair and slammed it into the arm, breaking the motor, gauntlet, and a good portion of the circuitry in the lower right arm. Josh staggered back, his exosuit’s right arm sparking and smoking. “Stupid machine!” He ripped out the faulty wires, stopping the smoke but at the cost of the arm’s functionality. He could still move his arm on his own, though, and pointed at Alex. “YOU COWARD! YOU KNEW YOU COULDN’T WIN ONE ON ONE, SO YOU CHEATED! WHY DON’T YOU FIGHT ME LIKE A REAL MAN?!”
“I don’t think I will,” Alex said, “As long as I have my friends with me, you’ll never win.”
“Shut up!” Josh said. “Friends are a weakness! Other people will only hold you back, then abandon you when you’re no longer useful to them! The only way you can make it in this world is as a vulture!” He extended a blade from his half-intact left gauntlet. “And I intend to be the vulture!”
“Wow, so edgy.” Angelica rolled her eyes. “Seriously, how much propaganda has this guy consumed?”
“Too much,” Alexandra said, “Way too much.”
Josh lunged at Alex with the wrist blade. It was all brute strength, with little strategy or thought put into it.
He’s been so blinded by his rage he stopped thinking. Alex easily dodged the stab, only to feel Josh’s fist against his abdomen.
Frak, spoke too soon. Got careless. The punch threw Alex against the pillar. He felt his back and hips ache. Before he could react, Josh was onto him. With his right hand, he grabbed Alex’s neck and slammed him against the pillar again, pinning him there. Stars exploded at the edges of his vision as his mind was dazed by the blow. With his left hand, he drew back the wrist blade and prepared to strike. “This is for everything you did to me!”
Sedeh
Wilhelmina reached the stadium after what felt like forever. Riding on Heidi as fast as she could, she passed hundreds of Crusaders and their drones and tanks along the way, but none of them shot at her. Seemed Elias did keep his word, at least for this part.
He definitely only meant on the way to the stadium. Nothing about the same thing when I get there. The stadium was as heavily fortified as the palace was, with rows of sandbags, machine gun nests, and tanks placed around it. But the Crusaders parted way and opened the main entrance for her, as if she were an honored guest.
Funny how these people treat me like I’m a Kaiserin, but it’s a little unnerving.
After dismounting, she went inside and passed through a hallway before emerging onto the pitch of the football field. Several large tents—probably command centers and barracks—had been set up on the outer edges. But she saw nobody there. The entire field was completely silent. It was as if everybody had left. A stage had been set up in the center. And on that stage were the hostages: the Russian and Livonian royals, Jayasimha and Lakshmi, and Kresge.
“I’ll get you out of there, I promise,” Wilhelmina said.
“EX-PRINCESS!” Elias’ voice screeched through a megaphone. “After so many years of waiting, God has finally delivered you before me as an act of providence!”
Wilhelmina remained calm. “Elias Anhorn, listen to me. We don’t have to fight. Release the hostages. It is completely within your power to stop this right now.”
“You’re right.” Elias appeared from behind a tent, clad in his exosuit. “I
do have power, not you. You are in no position to make demands of me. Speaking of which…I see you brought your little trinket with you. I specifically said no weapons. Now before I release the hostages, you will drop that sword and surrender yourself.”
Wilhelmina stayed where she was, one hand on Enonon’s hilt. Her eyes wandered across the field, trying to see where potential ambushes could come from. There was no way everyone had left the stadium, with how heavily guarded and important it was. She finally spotted the hidden troops hiding behind strategically placed trucks and storage containers.
“Don’t make me come over there!” Elias shouted.
Wilhelmina quietly focused on Elias. His face was angry and unhinged, like it was when she last saw him, but it was even worse than in the bunker. “Let them go first!”
“Not until you surrender. This is not a negotiation.”
The standoff continued for another ten seconds. Wilhelmina remained ready to draw Enonon at a moment’s notice. Then Elias turned to the hidden troops. “Execute them!”
The Crusaders emerged and aimed at the hostages. Shocked, Wilhelmina quickly raised her hands. “No!”
Elias looked back at her. “So you finally see reason. Good. Drop the sword.”
Got no choice. Wilhelmina reluctantly untied Enonon’s scabbard and dropped it on the grassy pitch.
“Good.” Elias waved to his troops. “Stand down.” The Crusaders lowered their guns. “Now come here.”
Wilhelmina approached Elias. Her breath grew shaky and nervous, despite her attempts to calm herself down.
Don’t worry, they’re still alive. After they’re safe, we can figure something out. She stopped a few steps away from Elias. They seemed to be about the same height, although Elias was a bit bulkier. Or maybe the exosuit made it look that way.
“You’re finally here,” Elias said, “After so long…I will avenge Ellie and my fallen comrades. Justice will be served.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Wilhelmina lacked the context to understand Elias. “Why are you doing this? Hunting down my family? Who is Ellie, and how is she related to killing me?”
“It doesn’t concern you,” Elias said, “What matters is my sister and friends are dead by your family’s hands. Ellie on November 9 and the rest in Mexico.” He jabbed a finger at Wilhelmina. “All because of
your family! And since I’ve already taken out the rest of your damned tree…you’re next.”
He slammed a metal-covered fist into Wilhelmina’s face. No amount of supernatural abilities could deflect such a sudden and simple punch from that close. Wilhelmina fell to the ground. She tasted blood in her mouth. “Rel…Release the hostages.”
Elias smiled. “I’ve been waiting to hear you speak like that my whole life.” He punched again, this time hitting her abdomen and knocking the wind out of her. Her legs and upper body flopped up like a fish out of water. She gasped in pain. “Pathetic. Even with all that power, you’re still
weak!”
“Release the hostages. We...had a deal!”
Elias shrugged. “Deals change all the time. I see a
great deal in front of me. One where I get to wipe out what remains of four enemy governments at once, and then a fifth later today.” He grinned smugly. “I think I’m going to take it. Today will be a day of victory! The day Holy Jerusalem wins this war!”
Rage bubbled up to the surface of Wilhelmina’s mind.
I knew
this would happen.
A pulse of energy rippled outward from her body. Elias weathered the blast by bracing his legs and putting his arms in front of his face. “Breaking the deal, are we? Well, let’s get this show on the road! Execute them!”
The soldiers emerged again and prepared to shoot. Thinking quickly, Wilhelmina reached out with her arm. Even without wielding Enonon, energy swirled around her hand. She directed it into a beam which she shot at the Crusaders. The beam of energy zipped around the enemy formation, piercing through the barrel of each gun and rendering them all useless. A wave of lethargy overwhelmed her soon afterward, her use of the power having drained her mentally. She stumbled forward and caught herself, then concentrated again.
Need to focus. No time to be tired.
“You can’t do that!” Elias activated his shoulder turret and fired at Wilhelmina, but she snapped her fingers, and the bullets deflected into the pitch around her. She then formed a fist and pulled her hand back, and the turret tore itself completely out of the exosuit.
Can I crush the rest of the exosuit? She tried focusing on the armor plates, imagining them crumpling against Elias’ body, but he was moving too fast for her to—how could she describe it—get a grip on her target. Blades emerged from the exosuit’s metal arms, and Elias swung around wildly, hoping to cut something. As he ran right towards her in a straight line, Wilhelmina put her palms together and concentrated on the front armor plate.
Get out of the FRAKKING WAY! She pushed outward, and an energy pulse emanated from her palms and slammed into the armor plate, throwing Elias back several feet. He slammed into the pitch, sending artificial turf flying. With Elias distracted, Wilhelmina got onto the stage and undid everyone’s ropes with her power. It was surprisingly still tedious and difficult, even when those who were freed and in good shape pitched in. “You’re free now. Get to safety.” The Russian and Livonian royals were relatively fine. Jayasimha and Lakshmi, though, simply slumped onto the stage without the ropes to hold them up. Wilhelmina crouched to check Jayasimha’s vitals.
Got a pulse, that’s good. Jayasimha stirred. “…Willie? That you?”
Wilhelmina smiled. “Hey, Jayasimha. Been a while, hasn’t it?”
“L…Lakshmi…”
Wilhelmina checked Lakshmi’s pulse. It wasn’t too bad. “Don’t worry, she’s here, and she’s going to be fine.”
Gediminas helped Jayasimha to his feet, while Borislav carried Lakshmi. Wilhelmina went over to Kresge.
“Wilhelmina…” he muttered. “Took you long enough.”
“Sorry, I got caught up with a lot of stuff.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I’ll explain later, if we get out of here.”
More Crusaders suddenly appeared from the trucks and tents, replacing the ones Wilhelmina had disarmed. From the other entrances, tanks rolled in and likewise pointed their guns at Wilhelmina, while even more Crusaders followed behind them. Before they could move, they were completely surrounded. Wilhelmina scanned the assembled enemy forces, trying to identify any weaknesses or vulnerabilities she could exploit.
Four squads to the left, six to the right. All standard Crusaders. Same weapons, presumably the same orders. Panopticon enhanced reactions. Full 360 degree coverage of the stage. If I as much as move, we’ll be cut down in seconds. But is there enough time to summon Enonon, like in the bunker? Can I even do that from this distance? She concentrated on that, but Enonon didn’t budge.
Damn. Must be too far away. Or I used too much energy earlier.
Elias appeared at the head of the formation, a pistol in one hand. “You don’t get to leave that easily.”
“We’re leaving,” Wilhelmina bluffed, “You can’t stop us.”
“I don’t think you understand the firepower I possess,” Elias said, “As you said, I have the power. I have
all of the power. You are in no position to negotiate. With a single word, I could have you all obliterated in less than a second.”
Jayasimha groaned. “And just when I thought I might make it…”
“Seriously, what’s with my luck?” Kresge said.
“
Bozhemoi,” Borislav cursed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out,” Wilhelmina said, “We’re going to make it, I promise.”
“Willie, don’t make a promise you can’t keep,” Jayasimha said.
Wilhelmina remained adamant. “We
will make it.”
But privately, she doubted it.
Elias pointed his pistol at Wilhelmina’s head. “Try all you want. You’ll never make it out. You can’t escape justice! I will deliver it, right here, right now!”
---
I think you all know what “WHY ARE YOU RUNNING” is a reference to.
