Counterattack, Part 15
The mall
Alexandra returned to the street they had “parked” on. She instinctively reached into her pocket to get her keys out, but she found they were empty. That reminded her that she had left the keys in the ignition.
Frak, I need to check on the reactor’s status when I get there.
She heard the screeching of tires, and then a tow truck sped by, hauling the Impala behind it. Alexandra barely caught a glimpse of black-clad Crusaders behind the wheel of the truck. It took another few seconds for the realization of what had just happened to finally hit her. Jerusalem had the Impala. No, losing the car itself wasn’t that important. More terrifying was that Jerusalem had gotten its hands on the reactor.
Her reactor.
...Oh, no.
East of Isfahan
As the helicopter flew off to the east, leaving behind the urban sprawl of downtown Isfahan for the plains of rural Persia, Tania adjusted the frequency of her radio to one used by the Persian military. “This is Admiral Tania Kirova, repeat, this is Admiral Tania Kirova. My ID code is…” She relayed the details. “I have commandeered this helicopter to stop a drone strike against the refugee camp at Kuhpayeh, requesting immediate backup from any available Air Force units. Don’t shoot me down. Repeat…” She repeated what she had just said and then closed the channel, focusing back on piloting.
Come on, fly, you damn machine! She gunned the throttle, but the helicopter was already going as fast as it could, and she barely noticed any acceleration.
We don’t have much time! She checked the radar, but there were no contacts. She was still far behind her targets. The camp was roughly 20 miles east of Isfahan, so she should be there soon. Below her, she saw farmland stretching as far as she could see, with some roads and highways running across the landscape. She saw no cities or camps in any direction.
Kind of reminds me of when Aunt Olga and Aunt Jessica took me camping in the Scandinavian countryside. Though there were more trees and mountains there.
The radar beeped, and two dots appeared on the display, gradually getting closer to her. Or rather, she was getting closer. Three more dots appeared, and then five more, and then a dozen more, until the entire top half of the screen was filled with over a hundred radar contacts. Tania smirked. Letting the autopilot take over for the final stretch, she picked up her trusty rifle and loaded an EMP round into the chamber. The motions, combined with her surroundings, led her to recall the events at Heligoland. How she had gotten into a helicopter to lure drones away from an escaping convoy of refugees. How she took them on in the air with only the helicopter’s guns and her rifle. How she ended up on the beaches of Bremerhaven, where she met Angelica and Julian.
Funny how that works out, huh? I’m right back where I started.
She looked through her scope and made out the outline of a drone in the distance. Even further away, on the ground, she saw tents and other temporary structures arranged in a grid pattern. It was the refugee camp. They were running out of time. Tania rolled down a window and leaned out, lining up her sights with the drone she had spotted.
“This time, it’s going to be different!” She took her shot, and the drone—together with dozens around it—plummeted out of the sky.
Kuhpayeh refugee camp
An improvised playground had been set up in the middle of the camp. It wasn’t much. There were slides and monkey bars, but most importantly, there was a basic swing set. Friedrich and Ilyana had taken the two seats. For the last few days, they had come here as often as they could, finding it a quiet place where they could relax and play.
“I hope Grandma is okay,” Friedrich said.
“She’ll be fine,” Ilyana said.
“How do you know?”
“I know she will. If not, I’ll tell on her.”
“To who?”
Ilyana shrugged. “I don’t know. You, maybe?”
“Me?” Friedrich said.
“You hear me, right?”
“Yeah, of course!”
Ilyana lazily kicked some dirt off the ground. “Why are we even here?”
“Because the adults want us to be safe?”
“No,
why are we
here?” Ilyana pointed at the ground.
All this flew over Friedrich’s head. “I don’t know.”
“They say they want to protect us,” Ilyana said, “From what? Why do we need to be protected?”
“Because there are bad guys,” Friedrich said, “Like Hassan and the dragon of darkness.”
“And why do those bad guys come after us?”
Friedrich thought about it, but he couldn’t come up with anything. “I don’t know.”
“There has to be a reason they want
us.” Ilyana pointed at themselves. “I don’t think I get it, but I have a feeling.”
“What feeling?”
“I don’t know how to say it.” More like she hadn’t learned the required words yet.
Friedrich looked at the ground, drawing lines in the dirt. “I’m scared.”
“Scared of the bad people?”
Friedrich nodded.
“Don’t keep your head down, Ricky,” Ilyana said.
“Why?” He looked at Ilyana.
“Because you don’t have to be scared.” Ilyana formed a fist. “I’ll protect you from the bad people.”
“You…you will?”
“I promise!” she said. “Nothing will ever come between us.”
“Really?”
“Not even a dragon of darkness can stop me!”
Friedrich smiled. “Thanks, Ilyana.”
“No problem, Ricky.”
Air raid sirens went off, and Izinchi rushed over to them. “Oi, kids, ye hear that? Let’s git t’ the shelter!”
Friedrich and Ilyana got off the swings. Ilyana ran first, but she looked back and saw Friedrich was still by the swings, staring up at the drones descending from the sky. “Come on, Ricky!”
“…scared…” was all Friedrich could say.
“Scared?” Ilyana said.
Friedrich nervously nodded. Without hesitation, Ilyana ran back, firmly grabbed Friedrich’s hand, and led him away. “Like I just said, I’ll protect you.”
As they followed Izinchi between tents and shipping containers, she looked back and saw Friedrich was trying his best not to make eye contact with her. His face was completely red.
“You’re a funny boy, Ricky,” she teased.
Friedrich simply put a hand in front of his face, as if that would completely cover his blushing. Ilyana giggled.
---
The helicopter got within range of the drone swarm, and Tania directed the automated computers to open fire. Missiles striked away from the aircraft, and yellow tracer fire drew parallel lines in the skies. In the distance, drones exploded like popcorn in a toaster. Those that survived the barrage turned around and focused their cameras on Tania. The computer urgently beeped, indicating over a dozen target locks.
“Target locks, huh?” Tania said. “Why don’t you lock
this?!”
She fired another round into the heart of the swarm. Dozens more drones fell to earth, completely disabled. She reloaded and fired again. Her bullet sheared off two rotors of one drone. Unbalanced, the drone went into a spiral and crashed into two nearby drones, destroying all three. Another drone fired its gun. A bullet blew a jagged hole in the windshield and embedded in the seat next to Tania. The cracks it made in the glass severely reduced her visibility, but by now Tania was leaning out of a side window as much as she could to shoot. Her next bullet took out that drone.
There were a couple dozen more drones, and by now they had spread themselves out so a single EMP wouldn’t disable them all at the same time. Tania reloaded and fired again, taking out two drones attempting flank her. Three drones on her right fired rockets at her. Pulling herself back inside, she pulled the control stick forward, putting the helicopter into a dive. The rockets shot past her. Two lost their target locks and fell to earth once their fuel ran out. One maintained its lock and changed course to pursue her. Tania pulled the control stick back, and the nose of the helicopter shot up. She put herself on the same altitude as the nearest of the three drones, and as the rocket closed in, she suddenly dove back down. The rocket overshot the helicopter and struck the drone, destroying it. While the other two were adjusting their aim, Tania dispatched them with another EMP bullet. Five drones were left. Two broke away to descend on the camp, while three flew at Tania.
“
Föbannat! You just had to make it more difficult, huh?” She jammed the control stick forward, and the helicopter dove. The three drones opened fire with their guns, and Tania heard their bullets pinging off against the fuselage and launch tubes. Warning signs flashed on her controls, indicating punctures and damage to some secondary systems. She ignored them. As long as she could still fly, she would.
“Come on, stupid computers! This is for Aunt Olga! For Aunt Jessica! For Heligoland!” She aimed her rifle right at the windshield and fired. Her bullet tore through the already cracked glass and completely shattered it. Tania ducked just as the glass shards flew back and tore through her headrest, though a few sliced off strands of hair. Once the windshield had completely fallen apart and she could feel the rushing wind coming into the cockpit, she looked back out and saw the three drones falling away. She was about to smile when she noticed the trails of smoke coming from the falling drones. A second later, a rocket struck the tail of her helicopter, and the aircraft lurched. Sensors and gauges screamed and beeped urgently. With the stabilizers destroyed, her helicopter went into a spin and lost altitude.
“No!” she muttered. “Not when I’m…so close! I swear I won't stop until I've killed each and every one of you!”
No matter what she did, she couldn’t regain control. The helicopter plummeted downward, towards a parking lot full of military vehicles. Tania knew she had to get out now, before she got too dizzy. She strapped a parachute to her back, picked up her rifle, kicked open the door, and without hesitation jumped out.
---
Izinchi suddenly stopped and looked up. Friedrich and Ilyana followed her gaze into the sky, where they saw the two approaching drones. But Izinchi’s eyes looked beyond the drones, instead focusing on…
“What the bloody ‘ell?!” Izinchi said.
Ilyana saw what appeared to be a yellow-haired woman falling out of the sky, a giant sniper rifle in her hands. Then her attention was drawn back to the drones, one of which had turned in their direction. She pushed Friedrich behind her, feeling Friedrich’s grip on her hand tighten. “It’s okay, Ricky. I’m here. Nothing’s coming between us.”
---
The wind whipped past her face and painfully pulled her hair in all directions. She wanted to shut her reddening eyes, but she forced them to stay open. She spotted the drones below her and positioned her arms to change her trajectory, putting herself above the nearest one. Calculating the amount of time before she reached them, she loaded a round into her rifle. With significant difficulty, she brought her rifle to her shoulder, forced her eye open enough to peer through the scope, lined up the sights with the drone farther away, then adjusted her aim to account for her and the drone’s separate trajectories, and finally pulled the trigger.
---
A shot rang out, and Friedrich screamed. He let go of Ilyana’s hand and covered his ears. Ilyana, though, didn’t flinch. She had heard way worse before.
Ricky did too, but I guess he’s not as used to it. She looked up just in time to see the drone targeting them crash into a building.
“Tha’ mad lass,” Izinchi muttered.
Ilyana looked back up and saw the woman was still falling.
How will she make it?
---
Just as Tania predicted, she fell right on top of the drone’s midsection. Her fall hadn’t been long enough to reach dangerous velocities yet, but the pain very nearly stunned her. Her ribs screamed out for relief, but she focused everything she had on keeping her balance. She wrapped her arms and legs around the drone’s body, making sure not to touch its four rotors under any circumstances. The drone struggled to carry her, but she had intended for that. It tried rolling over to shake her off, but she clung on. Once it had righted itself, she brought a fist down on its camera, destroying its vision. The drone beeped, and its servos whined and clicked. It couldn’t take much more.
Right, need a good place to set it down. She spotted a wide alley up ahead. Grabbing onto the moveable outer frames of the drone’s rotors, she pulled them to a certain angle so that the drone entered into a turn. Once she had lined up the trajectory with the alley, she lined up her rifle with the main CPU of the drone and fired once at point-blank range. The drone’s “head” blew apart, and the rest of the machine, no longer being controlled, dropped out of the sky. Tania opened her parachute, which pulled her off the crumbling drone. She watched as the last of Theodor’s drones crashed and exploded against a wall, and a minute later, her feet touched the ground.
Tania's parachute set her down in the alley. As she cut the ropes and unbuckled her harness, she heard someone clearing her throat behind her. She turned and saw…Izinchi. “Hold on, Senator Ochimeca?”
What a coincidence.
Izinchi raised a finger and opened a mouth, but she was so dumbfounded she didn’t know what to say for half a minute. “Oi, that you, Tania?” Two familiar children peered out from behind Izinchi, the girl keeping the boy behind her. “What the bloody ‘ell d’ye just dae?”
“Saved your lives, apparently.” Tania slung her rifle over her shoulder and wiped engine grease off her hands. “I didn’t hear any ‘
tack själv’.”
“Bloody ‘ell’s a ‘tack seeyolf’?”
Tania sighed. “Oh, never mind. It’s enough that you’re all alive.” She looked at the children. “Especially those two.”
Izinchi turned back at Friedrich and Ilyana. “Kids, wha’d ye say tae the good lassie ‘ere?”
“T-Thank you,” Friedrich said.
“Ms. Ochimeca, you didn't say thanks,” Ilyana said.
“Nae ‘scuse fer ye tae nae say it!”
“Alright, alright, break it up,” Tania said, “We should get you to the shelter.”
“Wow, ye show up from the city a wee minute ago, and now yer giving orders?”
“More like a suggestion, but yeah,” Tania said, “I’m just as confusedl, by the way.”
They began walking down the road. Tania looked around, taking in the tents, shipping containers, and military vehicles scattered everywhere. It was hard to imagine that just a short while ago, she was on the rooftop of Ali Qapu Palace with Thea and Magnus. “A far cry from the palace.”
“Eh, we make dae wi’ what we’ve got,” Izinchi said, “Seen worse in Edinburgh. Everything’s well there, I take it?”
“Honestly, I don’t really know,” Tania said, “Last thing I saw was Magnus and Thea going up against Theodor.”
“The mad CEO?”
Tania nodded. “That guy was arrogant enough to personally lead the attack.”
“Wish I was there.” Izinchi held up a fist. “So I could give ‘im this.”
Tania laughed.
She’s got the spirit, but I think Magnus and Thea know what they’re doing.
“How about Grandma?” Friedrich tugged at her sleeve. “Is she okay?”
Ilyana crossed her arms. “Ricky, can’t you see Ms. Tania is busy? And Grandma’s fighting bad guys.”
“No, no, it’s okay,” Tania said, “Your grandmother, Friedrich, is…”
She looked through her mind, searching for something she could use, but she found nothing.
Oh, great. Why did you rush into that without thinking?
Friedrich looked up at her with puppy eyes. “Where’s Grandma?”
Föbannat
, fine, I’ll have to improvise. “She’s beating the bad guys, and she’ll come back when she’s done saving the day.”
Ilyana, though saw right through her ruse. “How do you know that?”
I’d heard stories about this girl, but I’ll be damned, they weren’t accurate enough. She’s terrifying. And she’s only 6. Tania broke into a sudden sweat as she tried to find an answer to satisfy her. It was nothing like the battle she had just gone through.
Ilyana tapped a foot impatiently. “Well?”
Uh…if I don’t have any concrete evidence, I might as well say something to boost morale. Something…spiritual, I guess? Would she understand that? I hope so. Tania steadied her breathing, hoping she could get out of this nervewracking conversation with the most…observant child she had ever met. She settled on something she had told the lab crew just earlier that morning at the palace.
“I have a feeling the Dola are on our side.”
Wait, hold on, the lab crew! And Angelica!
Sedeh
Enonon dug deep into the ground under Elias’ armpit, missing him entirely. Wilhelmina’s hands remained frozen on the hilt, still processing the sudden stop.
“Come on, what are you waiting for?!” Elias said. “Kill me! As a vulture, claim your victory! End it!”
Wilhelmina finally realized what she was thinking. “I’m not a vulture.”
“You coward!” Elias spat. “Stop frakking around and end this!”
Wilhelmina looked Elias in his eyes—his angry yet terrified eyes. His hateful yet pleading eyes. “Tell me, Elias…what would you do if you had defeated me?”
“Do you need to ask?” Elias said. “I’d kill you! Make you an example to the rest of Persia!”
Wilhelmina nodded.
I expected as much. “Alright, then. So here’s my own punishment, which is far heavier.” She sheathed Enonon and stepped away. “I sentence you to live.”
Elias’ eyes widened. “No, you can’t do that! That’s not how this works! To the victor goes the spoils!”
“Since when were you so gung-ho about dying?” Wilhelmina said.
“That’s how it’s supposed to go!” Elias said.
“Maybe that’s how things go when you think about vultures and roadkill and whatever, but that’s not me,” Wilhelmina said, “Or maybe you just want to be martyred. I keep telling you, I’m not a vulture.”
“You’re weak! Weak and pathetic!” Elias spat at her.
Wilhelmina shrugged. “I’m just me. I believe in real justice. Not this eye-for-an-eye deal you’re so obsessed with. You will pay for all that you have done to the world. You will answer to your crimes.”
“Fool!” Elias snarled. “I am God’s chosen one! I answer only to Him! The laws of mankind do not constrain me! I will get my revenge, my own justice!”
“If you do, I’ll stop you again,” Wilhelmina said, “And again and again. However many times it takes.”
She flagged down a nearby Persian squad and approached its commander. The young officer saluted. “Yes, ma’am?”
“I need you to watch this man,” Wilhelmina said, “Keep him under close guard. Alive.”
The officer nodded. She was clearly disappointed to hear the word “alive.” “Yes, ma’am. Understood.” She turned to the rest of her squad. “Troops! You heard her!”
They surrounded Elias and pointed their guns at him. A medic set to work stabilizing his chest wound. Elias reacted violently to the medic’s hands. He kicked and punched and struggled, but the disabled exosuit’s armor now weighed him down, so he just flopped around. The Persians easily pinned him down.
“GAET YAER HEHNDS OUV MAE!” Elias cursed. “AYKWAELAESTS! BAEHRBAEHRAEIHS!”
He’s completely lost it now. No use hanging around now. Wilhelmina left Elias to the Persians. The battle had largely ended during her little spar with Elias. The only Crusaders she saw were dead bodies lying in the grass. The rest had fled. There was no longer any danger for her, so she casually walked across the field to where Kaveh’s wreckage sat. Up close, she could better assess the damage the rocket had dealt to the tank. As she had previously seen, the turret had been blasted off, leaving only charred and jagged pieces of metal behind. The main body was more intact, but it had also suffered. The treads had been blown off. The engine block was exposed and half-destroyed. The armor plates were dented and twisted. But the Persian flag still proudly waved from the back, despite having been perforated in multiple places by stray bullets. Wilhelmina climbed up to where the turret was supposed to be. Drawing Enonon again, she used its energy blade, combined with her power, to move debris out of her way.
“Come on, come on,” she said, “Please be okay…”
She mentally tossed an armor plate onto the grass with a soft thud, finally revealing the battered interior. Fortunately, Shayan was conscious, although his body was covered in blood. His back was turned. The general looked up at Wilhelmina. “You made it…”
“Sorry I couldn’t make it sooner,” Wilhelmina said, “How’s Gunduz?”
Shayan pulled back, revealing Gunduz. Engine grease, blood, and bruises covered her face. Her eyes were closed. Her combat fatigues were similarly covered in blood. Bandages covered parts of her torso and arms “I did some first aid, stopped the bleeding. She’s going to need medical attention, but she’ll live.”
Wilhelmina felt relieved. “Is she awake?”
Shayan leaned closer to Gunduz’s ear. “Majesty? Uh, ma’am? Wilhelmina’s here.”
Gunduz’s eyes slowly opened and focused on Wilhelmina. “…Willie?” she weakly said.
Wilhelmina took Gunduz’s hand. “Hey, Gunduz. I’m here now. I beat Elias.”
Gunduz smiled. “I knew you could do it. You always had it in you.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you and the others. It wasn’t just me.”
Gunduz’s eyes focused on Wilhelmina’s right arm. “Frak, you’re bleeding.”
At first, Wilhelmina didn’t know what she was talking about. “I am?” Then she suddenly remembered the state of her body. Pain surged outward from her right arm and back. “Oh.” She slumped over a destroyed console next to Gunduz. The last thing she heard before she fell unconscious was the footsteps of nearby Persian soldiers and Shayan’s shouting.
---
Tania gets her General Iroh moment, so long after her last one at Heligoland.
I quoted Alp Arslan’s alleged words after freeing the Byzantine emperor Romanos IV after the Battle of Manzikert. Though since Manzikert never happened in this timeline, there wouldn’t have been a reason for him to say it, so I guess this is now Wilhelmina’s quote.
