Thursday, 9 May 2024, 7:20 pm
"Shit! We need to finish this!" The team captain of Bladestorm screams, ahead of him, team members hold the one of the angels suspended high above the street in a bubble of highly pressurized water and air.
"I can't get it any higher! We need to end this now!" A team member screams from below the creature's prison as they strain to keep it contained.
"Command, we need a suppression strike on our coordinates, right now!" The captain yells.
"Affirmative, confirming target coordinates." The response comes from command but before the artillery strike can be initiated, the bubble erupts and the creature bursts out in a violent, whirling spray of wind and water, flicking its wings to clear the air around it in a glorious ballet of shimmering droplets and aether. The aetherian hangs in the air as it scans its victims, the setting sun peaks over mountains to the west, sending out its last rays across the city. The angel basks in them for a moment, its heavenly aura radiating in all directions. Then, it drops to the ground like a lightning bolt, crushing the team member that had just contained it. The creature crashes into the asphalt leaving a crimson creator puddled with mashed flesh and bone as a fine mist of blood rained down around it.
"Fuck! It got loose!" The team captain cries out as he watches the angel examine the rest of his team and move toward its next victim. A Bladestorm member sits against the wheel of a car along the road, sobbing relentlessly as the creature slowly approaches. He tries in vain to call on his aetherics, but his mind is already lost to fear, robbing him of his conviction and sanity. He sits in a crumbled mess covered in tears and urine as the monster shifts toward him. The Bladestorm team captain springs to action, forsaking all notions of survival in a bid to save his remaining teammates. As he approaches the creature, his body explodes into balls of wobbling flesh that quickly transform into multiple duplicates of himself. The captains' clones swarm the target, their bodies seeming to melt and mold themselves around the figure of the enemy. Forming a coating of human flesh around the creature. They pull and contract with every fibre of muscle, restricting its movement. The creature screams and all nearby humans recoil in pain, but the captain's clones stay firmly latched to their target as blood poors from every orifice.
"Mona, NOW!" All the clones suddenly scream out and on a room top nearby, a woman weaves her hands through the air gracefully while below her, a torrent of air whips around the creature's feet, growing into a whirlwind of dust and debris, lifting the entity high into the air. "COMMAND!" The captain screams in frustration and fury.
"Bio-suppression measures…. FIRE!" A response instantly rings out. The firing of artillery shakes the perimeter. And 4 shells snake their way through the ACZ and hit the target full-on. The captain takes the brunt of the first hit, the biomass bullet melting through skin and bones as his clones slough off the creature in bits and pieces. The rest of the shots find their true target, followed quickly by 3 capture nets that wrap it into submission and bring it crashing back to earth, where it lay fully restrained and melting in a crater of caustic sludge.
With the second aetherian contained, Mona Yelin searches for her captain in the aftermath of the artillery strike where she finds his badly mutilated bodies, collecting as much of him as she can. She proceeds to gently carry him to the perimeter as they float together on a cushion of air.
To the north, the cold evening air brings with it thick low-lying clouds that accumulate over the bay. Vera finds herself falling through such a cloud, her body stiff and numb from the overwhelming pain of having most of her bones broken in a gravitational crushing by the aetherian, her ARCH-unit input socket stands empty, her power-core depleted and destroyed since her fight took her outside the ACZ. Above her, Ayame and the angel continue to fight. She slips around furiously through the air, using all of her strength to meet and parry the angel's attacks, the clang of their swords meeting ring through the area like a bell.
"How much longer?" Ayame cries out as she struggles to defend herself against the angel, gasping for air and on the verge of her own limit-break.
"15 seconds! Vera, get into position!" The Director yells in response. While Ayame fights off the entity, Vera has splashed down into the bay, further breaking her body. With all physical strength she had left, she removed the backup power-core from her blouse and slipped it in behind her neck. Her rejuvenated ARCH-unit instantly flickers to life and while her body only recovers a small portion of its physical strength, the full power of her aetheric abilities are returned to her. She lifts herself out of the water and flings toward the enemy. With a quick twist and snap of her hands, she captures the angel above her, narrowly saving Ayame from another injury as it moves in to land a devastating strike. With the help of visual instructions from GAIA, Vera quickly moves the gravity bubble into a predefined position in the sky over the bay.
"SkyNail incoming!" the Director screams "Clear the perimeter, get into safety positions! Now!". The mention of the SkyNail launches everybody across the battle zone into a panic as they run for safety and shelter wherever they can find it. The Strike Teams downtown brace themselves as they watch over the captured aetherians. Joshua Daily and Rumaan Adams wait patiently beneath thick layers of ice and concrete, ensuring the safety and security of the barrier crystal as the battle rages on around them.
In orbit over Sydney, the SkyHammer satellite maneuvers into attack position, loading a small payload into its nuclear-powered delivery system. As soon as it receives its target, a highly controlled and contained fission reaction erupts upon the satellite, ejecting millions of pounds of force into space through a rear export port. The counterforce of the eruption ejects a small, 1 kilogram, aetherite-tipped, tungsten-carbide rod towards earth, reaching a top speed of 0.005% of the speed of light. It zips through the stratosphere, punching a massive hole as it begins screaming through the atmosphere, turning incandescent as the friction heats it up thousands of degrees. It streaks through the Sydney skyline like a shooting star, as the sun's last rays rub over the horizon. Vera squints her eyes as the SkyNail enters the bay and the aetherite rod hits the angel in the left shoulder with the force of 20kt nuclear explosion, and just as the shockwave erupts from the impact point, Vera's ARCH-unit erupts, blowing flesh out of her skin as it sucks in unfathomable amounts of aether while she uses every bit of strength she can muster to contain the force of the impact. The blast ripples and reflects through her gravity bubble as she strains with all her power to contain it, but her backup power-core cracks and erupts into a shimmering shower of aetheric dust unable to handle the overwhelming power of the SkyNail. The remaining force of the shockwave explodes through the Sydney bay in every direction, blowing the sky clear of clouds, sending a deep spherical depression in the water's surface which implodes and erupts violently into a immense water spout, blowing away part of the Sydney bridge. The shockwave tosses Ayame and Vera hundreds of meters through the air and crashes them into the water's surface near the harbour. The shockwave rolls through the city flattening hundreds of buildings and infrastructure around the water's edge. The pressure wave bounces through walls of the bay, building its waters into a small tsunami that floods most low-lying areas and destroys hundreds of ships, wiping out the Sydney Bridge's supports and bringing down the whole thing in an earth-shattering eruption of stone and metal.
In the sky over Sydney, chunks and fragments of the angel scatter about the water, some now buried meters deep into stone and concrete and some ejected into orbit from the force of the blast.
"Vera… are you still alive?" Ayame asks nervously as she floats just above the tumbling waters of the bay, her mangled body resting on a cushion of vibrating air molecules.
A long sigh comes back in response, "I-I think so…" Vera whimpers. Ayame sighs deeply and the two would quickly find each other with the help of GAIA and make their way back to the perimeter, missing more than a few parts between them.
In the combat command center, the Director sits deep in his chair at the top of the room, his head resting in his palm as he contemplates the long term effects of the battle's collateral damage. "Those fucking I.G.S.I. suits are gonna eat us alive for this! No point wasting any more time, let's finish it. I want a full D.U.M.P. protocol on that motherfucking guardian. Eviscerate that thing! Tell Daily to get ready, he needs to hoof his ass out of there as soon as we hit it. Go!"
The Director's order sweeps across the battlefield, and every remaining artillery, long-range ballistic and missile is prepared for launch, all targeted at the lone remaining invader, the gate guardian still floating above Sydney. All non-combat personnel are evacuated and the Strike Teams move to the perimeters, only team Grimwatch and the guardian now remain in the battlezone. A battle command staff member runs up to the Director and whispers into his ear.
"Air support is 5 minutes out. Let's hurry this up. Prep the fireworks. Let's give them a show." he yells out across the room, a semblance of a smile finding his face.
What remains of the drone and TV camera's watch intently as the battle field stands silent, only the guardian's wing beats thump through the air until a faint whistle could be heard far away, it quickly grows to a rolling roar as a trio of F-22 fighter jets streak through the sky, leaving a sonic boom behind as they pass over the guardian, bank across the bay and fly off into the upper atmosphere, as they pass 9 air-to-air missiles hit the guardian from above, blowing off massive chunks of wing as it tries to protect itself from the assault. Moments later, the perimeter releases a cacophony of eruptions as 12 artillery guns each fire a volley of high-explosive rounds at the target, they twirl through the evening air lighting up the sky like fireworks as they pound the creature with high-explosives, blasting off more and more of its wings as it hangs defenceless in the sky.
"Finally!" The Director snorts in the command center. "Daily! You're clear. Get that crystal out of there, now"
"Yes, sir!" Joshua replies and he immediately grips the crystal with his tendrils of rock and launches himself and the crystal out of the crumbling ground, on a mountain of rubble and rock. Rumaan follows shortly behind, slipping to safety on torrents of ice. As the perimeter defence peels off more and more of the creature's body with each volley of attacks, it is unable to react to Grimwatch's retrieval of the crystal, the last of its eyes damaged beyond use by shrapnel of flesh and bones being blown off by the artillery barrage. Support archaners arrive to assist with transportation of the crystal and they swiftly move the aetherite onto a large trolley and use their aetheric abilities to usher it away to the edge of the ACZ, slipping out of the perimeter and onto a waiting ATG platform. With the barrier crystal removed from the area, the Aether Concentration Zone that had domed the city, quickly starts to fade, its shimmer disappearing from the air as the raw aether is absorbed and dispersed into the fabric of the universe. With the ACZ gone, all aetherian invaders still alive would lose much of their strength and abilities and slowly begin to die.
Salvos of rounds hit the creature, dismantling its existence bit by bit, and soon, what remains of the guardian begins to crumble down to the earth as aetheric dust, blowing away in the evening breeze. With both the guardian and barrier crystal no longer active, the invasion gate high above Sydney begins to shrink and fade, eventually snapping out of existence.
"Good work, people, the ACZ is down. We did it!" The Director sighs with a grin as his fears and anxieties start to fade and the staff in the command room start to holler and clap in celebration.
The skies of Sydney are now free to show off its natural beauty, as the brilliantly clear, starry night envelopes the city, moonlight glistening across the ocean to the east, reflecting off the remnants of aether floating in the clouds of dust billowing across Sydney. Across the world, humanity begins its celebration of their 15th battle won, the invasion was suppressed and another period of peace was earned. In the battleworn city, weary warriors make their way back to their commands for medical attention and debriefings.
Over the next months and years, cleanup and construction crews would sweep across the area, followed swiftly by repopulation of the city. Cities that survive invasions become a popular choice for relocation, with many people scrambling to find accommodation and work. In 15 years of invasions, the same city had not been targeted twice, leaving them as an assumed safe haven for the people that can afford to move there.
At GAARD HQ, the graduates sit in solemn silence watching the invasion come to a close, the battle is a stark reminder of the future that was awaiting them at the end of their recruitment into GAARD.
"That was… whoa." A voice trembles in the group. "Are… are we really ready for this?"
They break out into solemn discussions of the battle's outcomes. Reyn still sits buried into the couch, rubbing his burning eyes, he had been staring at the hours-long battle on the TV without pause. His eyelids flutter as he tries to focus his vision across the room. Ghazal sits near him, trembling slightly as his quivering eyes dart across his phone screen. Many others remain transfixed to their devices or continue to follow the post-battle reports on the TV. Reyn notices a distraught Jocelyn slowly pull herself up from a couch, her legs quivering as she makes her way to her room. Reyn hesitates, but then quickly follows behind her. "Hey, Joze, you ok?"
"Oh, hey, Mitchells. Yeah, I think my legs fell asleep. I'll be fine." She responds, but her voice cracks and quivers with each word.
"Oh, ok, can I, uh, help you to your room?" Reyn asks, extending his elbow toward her.
"Thanks Mitchells," she smiles, hooking her arm into Reyn's. "That was, fuck. It doesn't get easier, you know. I mean, Jessica HIlls… She was my age. That was her first battle. She was always posting about her training and recruitment. She was so excited about this." Jocelyn's words grow heavier and more solemn as she talks, and Reyn senses the soft sniffles of held back tears. "S-She didn't stand a chance. Killed in an instant. I-I don't know, Reyn. I think I'm scared." She pulls closer to Reyn and grips his arm tight, digging into his skin.
"Joze, I-I'm… I don't know what to say. I'm sorry." Reyn stutters. His brain is a jumbled mess as he tries to fight off impulses and find a way to soothe Jocelyn's hurt.
"Oh… no, no. I'm… ugh. I'm being stupid. Sorry! That was stupid." She says wincing and wiping away tears. "Sorry Mitchell's, I dunno what I'm saying. We're trained for this, right? Graduates of Brannon-Brook! O'Hare would be telling me to nut up, right about now" She says with a forced laugh, but her fear is evident in every movement and word. Her eyes hung low to the ground, unlike the fierce forward-facing vision she always carried, and her body was sunken and cold.
"Jocelyn, I-I understand, It's just…" Reyn stutters, desperate to show care.
"Relax, Mitchells. I'm fine…" Jocelyn interrupts, flashing him a stiff smile. Reyn catches a glimpse of her eyes in the dim passage, the sadness evident in the thick layer of moisture coating them and her wet lashes crowning them. The view breaks something in Reyn and he feels an urge overtake his body. He quickly unhooks his arm from hers, wraps it around her shoulder and pulls her tight against his chest. The quick switch of position startles Jocelyn and she looks up at him with worried eyes and pursed lips.
"Look, Jocelyn, I'm not good at this, and I probably won't be good out on the field either. But… um, I'll always look out for you ok. So don't worry about it." Reyn says, stiffening his chin and puffing out his chest instinctually. His own words pierce his heart with fiery barbs of cringe and embarrassment, but he holds firm in the face of his self-doubt, and the Canadian goddess that he held firm against his chest. Jocelyn looks up at him, her eyes widening as her face and mouth seem to twist through multiple emotions. Her heart flutters, rushing blood across her body and her pore's tighten, stiffening every hair on her skin. An eternity seems to pass in Reyn's mind as she wordlessly stares at him for a moment.
Eventually her eyes soften and her face melts to an affable smirk. "That's cute, Reyn." She says with a firm slap to his chest, she pushes him away and turns to her room door. As she enters, she flicks her head around and stares at Reyn for another moment. "That was… really cute." She says with a crimson-cheeked smile before slipping into her room.
Reyn's stares at her door for a while as his mind reboots, having crashed from failing to process the awkwardness of his actions and he eventually drags himself to his room where he collapses into his bed to immediately fall asleep for 14 hours.
Four weeks would pass before the recruitment program would proceed again, having been paused in face of the invasion and its aftermath. The graduates were given 3 weeks off time and allowed to return to family or other off-base accommodations. Reyn had elected to return home and spend the time with his father, stepmother and sister in Pensacola, Florida. He would spend most of his time there working with his father Reynold on an old Chevrolet Chevelle that originally belonged to his mother, he inherited it at 16, promptly crashed it and they have been restoring it ever since, only working on it when they're together. His little sister would occupy most of his other time at home, forcing him to tell her all about his time at Brannon-Brook and GAARD while indulging in various tea-parties, stage-shows and makeovers.
He would make his way back to Turkey after 3 weeks along with all other graduates and they spend their days exploring the GAARD complex and nearby town, engaging in various activities provided by the Turkish coast. Eventually a message comes down from HQ and they are to meet at the main administration building lobby the next day for updates regarding the recruitment process.
Ghazal finds Reyn in his room, plugged into a VR headset he had long ago smuggled into the academy, Reyn was meditating, taking advantage of the mental fortification programs they were provided at the academy. His recent mental experiences have left him anxious and confused, but the sight of the battle for Sydney only helped strengthen his resolve to overcome the mental issues that fed his insecurities.
"Once a plug, always a plug." Ghazal sighs as he plops himself onto Reyn's bed. "You see the message, mate? Looks like recruitment's back on."
"Meditating!" Reyn grunts back.
"Right. So why do you think they want to meet with us?" Ghazal continues.
"Meditating!" Reyn snarls louder.
"I know, but, with more than all those archaners out of commission including a whole bunch of dead strike teamers, you think something might change?" Ghazal ponders aloud. Reyn tears off his VR headset in defeat and stares at Ghazal with a wide-eyed scowl. Ghazal sheepishly smiles and shrugs in response.
Reyn can't help but smile back at his friend, despite his frustrations. "Ok… so, what are you thinking?" Heasks, relenting his frustrations.
"Hm, I dunno. Just feels weird." Ghazal shrugs.
The two discuss more of the recent events and speculate on what tomorrow might hold.
A gentle knock suddenly rattles Reyn's door.
"Oh, hey, Joze." Reyn peeps out in surprise as the young woman stands staring up at him from his doorway.
"Are you busy?" Jocelyn inquires, tilting her head and flitting her eyes as she smiles.
"Um…" Reyn hesitates, turning his gaze to Ghazal, who was perched on his bed, eagerly listening in. Ghazal twists his hands, performing a crude gesture with a pointed finger and a pretend hole before signalling Reyn to leave, flicking his hand at the man, and turning his face away in pretend disgust.
"I've got time, Joze." Reyn snickers as he leaves, slamming the door behind him.
"Couple of us are hitting that cafe in town. The one with the free refills for archaners. Care to join?" Jocelyn motions, swinging her arm in the direction of a small local town, famous for its history and cuisine. Reyn nods with a smile and the two leave the dorm together and meet up with a group of fellow graduates outside. The group leisurely strolls to the nearby town and spend their afternoon engaged in deep conversation and good food. Sunset sneaks up on the graduates as they lose track of time on their excursion. The Turkish countryside is basked in the last light of dusk as the group finds themselves lost among the snaking streets of a tiny seaside town, conversions flowing with laughter and scowling as the group poked in and out of empty streets, futilely searching for a sign pointing to their destination. With darkness beset on them, they finally make their way to the HQ, tired and frustrated, but appreciative of the day's exploits.
As they spill into the dorm, Jocelyn catches Reyn alone while they move towards their rooms. She pokes him playfully as they walk. Their eyes meet and she smiles at him softly. He stares back and smirks, holding firm his confidence in the face of her overwhelming beauty. They reach her room and she quickly flicks open the door. "This is me. See you around Mitchells."
"Uh, yeah, see around Jose. Thanks, today was… awesome." Reyn responds confidently.
"Sure." Jocelyn leaves Reyn with a coy smile and slips into her room, closing the door behind her. Reyn finds himself again standing and staring at Jocelyn's door, his brain struggling to process the events of the day, the year, his life and everything that led to where he stood.
"Reyn… you still there?" Jocelyn's tender voice peeps out from behind her door.
"Oh… um, yeah, sorry, I was just…" Reyn stumbles. He hears Jocelyn's bashful giggles emulate from behind the door while he tries to formulate a coherent response.
"Goodnight, Reyn… I'll see you at breakfast."
"O-ok. Cool, see you then." Reyn quickly responds and he moves away from Jocelyn's room with a purposeful swagger, though his mind was screaming for him to run as fast as he could. Thoughts and emotions seem to blind him and his heart beats in unnatural rhythms while his organs feel unnaturally warm and fluffy.
"Fuck!" He sighs, slapping both cheeks. His jaw is cramped, the grin on his face unwilling to relent as he falls into his bed.