Deus Ex Machina: Episode 11 – "Take it Back!" Part 2

Preparation for what would be humanity's final fight against the covenant was complete. Karl had taken roughly 15 men back to his hideout and gathered everything that could be used in even the smallest way, shape or form. Returning with an overloaded drop-ship, the remaining population that could either walk or was willing to fight scrambled across the city, gathering scattered survivors, rounding up whatever could be salvaged, fixing what vehicles could be fixed and making a count of every round of ammunition they had left. Despite heavy losses, the human fighting force was still 236 strong with twenty-eight Warthog's and twenty-five mongoose ATV's still ready for action. Furthermore two Scorpion tanks and eight hornet's had survived, not counting the four in the resistance's band and would no doubt go a long way in helping with the assault.

Further adding to the human's arsenal were three ASGM-10 missiles commonly used by Longsword fighters normally used to destroy covenant seraph fighters. While they had no Longsword at their disposal, the resistance had a modified mobile missile launcher on hand that was compatible with the missiles and could even go as far as to remotely control them while having a full video feed while they were being guided to their target. They were no doubt going to come in handy. Griffiths had seen a single one of these completely incinerate an unshielded seraph and he wondered how much damage it would cause once it struck a ground target.

That and the robot that had attacked the city was also added to their arsenal. After it had woken up and appeared to be exhibiting no signs of hostility towards the humans, Griffiths ordered it shut down and put into a quick study. Finding no active directives pertaining to its previous actions, the robot was ordered re-programmed to assist them in their attack on the covenant.

After several hours, the remaining marines and volunteer's were ready to go. They all said their goodbye's to their friends and loved ones and headed off to attack the covenant head-on. Only a few stayed behind to offer protection should the attack fail even though they knew it would be no use. If the humans lost this battle, it would spell doom for the rest of their species.

Meanwhile, Jon was holding on to the side of a hornet, heading in nearly the opposite direction of the battle. Jacob's last known location was about 14 miles northwest of salvation city, about 7 miles from where the battle was going to take place. Jack, the main pilot of the resistance, was familiar with that area and had offered to take him there. Further reinforced by Doyle, he was given a marine-class hornet but was ordered to return to the battle immediately after dropping Jon off. As the hornet traveled through the lifeless, endless sand dunes, Jon couldn't help but stare and take in a small, yet valuable sense of piece in watching the sand pass through the wind. It was quiet and peaceful unlike the past few weeks which had been filled with nothing but chaos and noise. It gave him some room to think. Nobody to fight, no more people chasing him, nothing but silence. He could just relax and think, yet as he started at the clear blue sky above him, he wondered if Mike and his other classmates were watching him. How he wished he could be up there with them.

"Soon enough…" he thought. "Soon enough…"

Jon then felt the hornet slowing down which put him back into focus. Quickly examining his surrounding brought nothing but question: The vast desert behind them, they had come out to the old Mombasa docks which somehow miraculously survived the wars that devastated much of the earth's surface despite being reduced to mere rusted-out structures due to decades of natural erosion. Aside of the decayed bridge and some small remnants of what used to be a highway nearby, there wasn't much else to look at, although the site of a still-standing structure outside salvation city alone was a spectacle in its own right. Still, something wasn't right about this.

"This is the place?" asked Jon.

"Affirmative, the signal is originating from somewhere inside," replied the pilot.

"How could Jacob be all the way out here? It's miles away from where he should be. Even if he had a warthog or even a hornet, there's no way he could've made it here without being shot down," said Jon.

"Well you are in charge you know. It's your call…" replied the pilot. Although Jon did consider turning back, it was only for a split-second before he quickly erased that thought from his mind.

"No, we're going in but set us down over there," said Jon pointing to a partially un-earthed doorway just inside the run-down dock entrance, surrounded by a mostly eroded fence.

Both Jon and the pilot exited the hornet. Despite Griffiths' orders to leave once he dropped Jon off, the pilot refused to do so. After a quick survey of the area and finding no traps of covenant of any kind, Jon prepared to enter the docks. Checking to make sure his assault rifle and SMG were in working condition, he saw that the overhead door was also conveniently left unlocked which told him only one thing.

"Ok, I'm gonna go have a look around," Jon said, raising the overhead door which lead into the dock area. Checking to make sure nothing was inside before stepping in, he turned to the pilot.

"If anything happens to me or any covenant show up, get out of here. Don't risk your life trying to save mine. I've already had enough people die needlessly because of something that involved me," finished Jon. The pilot nodded and turned to guard the surrounding area. Quickly checking again to make sure nothing was inside, Jon stepped inside the dock area and shut the overhead door behind him.

Crouching, Jon spun around and crept to the edge of the upper portion of the ramp. The beacon was close by, but its exact location was undeterminable by the motion tracker so Jon decided to explore the entire place. The ramp led down to a point where one could either go left and/or resume walking forward toward the front end of the pier or could go down one level further. Deciding not to go down just yet, he instead ran left on to the top of a structure marked 'Building K' to get a better vantage point of the alley. A quick scan, even with all the vision modes found no traps or concealed hostiles of any kind. Still deciding not to go that way just yet, he ran over to the other side of Building K, past an enclosed stairway leading down into the structure and what he saw was enough to put a question mark on anyone's head; Eight 12-foot stacks of fish pallets all enclosed in a octagonal pattern by what looked like warehouse doors: An arena.

"But for what?" thought Jon.

Trusting his intuition, he ran back to the other side and down the enclosed stairway which led into a control room of sorts with a ramp on the side leading into the area with the arena. Finding nothing of interest, he headed down into the back hallway. After a couple turns and down another ramp, he came out to the open exit leading to the alley he first scanned. Still not trusting it, he headed down to the level below where he saw nothing but a couple dingy rafts pulled ashore. After another scan that showed absolutely nothing, he sprinted through and up the ramp back to the main level. Taking in his surrounding, he saw an enclosed food stand, another building labeled M and a long stretch of dock. Both the food stand and Building M further down the stretch revealed nothing of interest yet again save for some old oil barrels behind a still-working electronically locked gate. That gave Jon his answer right there. This place was too well maintained and still powered by something. Running to the top of Building M, he jumped on the roof.

"Patrick! It's no secret anymore, I know that you're posing as Jacob and I know you're here! You can come out now, there's no need to play these stupid games anymore!" shouted Jon. No answer. Realizing what Patrick wanted, Jon turned on the motion tracker again which was now visibly picking up the beacon's exact location.

Ignoring the last stretch of unexplored dock which led to an alcove shrouded in darkness, Jon went directly across from Building M into a fully working freezer with a door sealing off the other half to any unwanted company. Turning left, he went through the hall until he came to the small warehouse that had open doors on either side, connecting the front and back of the dock. He quickly went up two ramps set up like a staircase and onto the second floor. To the left was a balcony that was opposite the control box he was in earlier and that overlooked the arena. Back in the warehouse he went straight, where the beacon was coming from. Dead ahead lead out to the part of the dock he wanted to avoid. To the right and up another set of stairs, he came to an air-tight door with a camera watching it and a ramp to his right. The camera tracking him as he went up the ramp, he came to a closed gate with a bright-green button on the side to open it. The beacon and the body of the supposed marine were right there on the other side.

"Well…if this is what he wants…what I have to do to clear my name…so be it…" thought Jon as he pushed the green button. The gate opened and the bridge extended, yet there was nothing for it to extend to. Instead, it extended just over the arena…

Jon slowly crept toward the body, one eye on the motion tracker, the other on his HUD's sensors. After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the body lying conveniently at the end of the bridge. Turning the body over, he saw that it wasn't a body after all; it was only a rag-doll with the beacon around its neck.

"So this is it? This is what I get after all that trouble I went though?" said Jon out loud as he removed the beacon. About ten seconds passed as he simply stared at it before he broke the silence.

"What a goddamn joke!" he said as he angrily crushed the beacon in his hand and proceeded to kick the rag-doll into the makeshift arena below.

"All right Patrick, I played your little game and found your beacon, now come on out!" shouted Jon, standing on the edge of the bridge. About a split second later, he heard a voice clear its throat behind him. Jon spun around but before he could even raise his assault rifle, Patrick delivered a kick to his chest, sending him falling into the arena below. Jon wasn't about to repeat the same mistake twice though as this time around, he managed to regain himself and land in the arena with a massive thud.

"Nice one Jon! Good to see you're capable at saving something for a change," said Patrick before he jumped into the opposite end of the arena.

Jon stared at him, his fists clenched so tight, he thought his fingers would tear through his armor seal. "You're a dead man Patrick," he said in a calm, yet enraged tone.

"Oh ho ho ho…I wouldn't go saying that," replied Patrick as he tossed Jon his assault rifle.

"Know what? You got a point there. After all, we're all dead anyways thanks to you…ready to start the game over?" replied Jon as he loaded a round into the chamber of his rifle.

"More than ready but before we begin, you're a little off on your last statement. None of us are going to die. In fact, it's quite the opposite," said Patrick?

"What the hell are you blathering on about? Have you not seen what's happened over the past 36 hours? What you told me last time we spoke?" asked Jon, now fully agitated.

Patrick chuckled slightly. "That…was all a lie," he replied.

Jon's eyes widened. "Then…"

"The future of humanity…is in better hands than you think Jon."

Outside Salvation City: Last known relayed position of Covenant setup

Not wanting to waste anymore of his men, Captain Griffiths confirmed it himself: The Covenant had taken over The Pillar of Autumn II and were using it as a front of sorts to setup their invasion of humanity's final source of civilization. The reason(s) as to why remained unknown but were chalked up to the covenant 'not wanting to get their ships dirty on the heretics home-world.' For as whacked out as it seemed, it also made sense given the covenants overzealous devotion to their religion.

They had set the ship low enough to deploy a gravity life and had already begun setting up shop. From the looks of their current setup though, it seemed as though the covenant spent more time getting their troops out onto the battlefield then they had actually setting up a well-defended outpost. There was a vehicle depot, a makeshift communications center and a barracks. They had set up shop across a wide patch of land but there wasn't any detection gear or strong defenses of any kind save for small guard patrols. The main army however was still poised on the edges of the outer rim of the city in the exact same spot where they stopped after their mysterious retreat. They looked sharp and ready as always but also seemed to be simply standing around, waiting for the attack order to be given. Griffiths didn't know what in the world was going on nor did he care at that point. He had one plan for victory and one plan only and had jumped through hoops getting the assets of his plan into position. If that failed, it was down to taking out as many covenant as he could. Running a quick check to make sure everyone was in place and the missiles were ready to be fired, he clicked on his com. It was time to show the arrogant split-lips who they were dealing with.

"Everyone, this is Griffiths. I'm sure you all know what to do but just to be sure, let's go over it one last time. Missile teams, I've already painted your targets, when I give the signals, launch your respective missiles. After that, hornet teams, you swoop in and start laying waste to any survivors. And finally…Liberation unit, you and I will protect the rogue aliens…and the robot as we storm the gravity lift and take it up to The Pillar of Autumn II in an attempt to re-take it from covenant hands. Maybe then, we might have a chance at winning this. Gauss Warthog team, you guys will be focused on providing any long-range cover you possibly can on our way to the gravity lift. Take out anyone by the gravity lift or anything that tries to intercept us. The rest of you will serve as what I like to call the distraction unit. Your job is simple: Keep the main covenant army occupied for as long as possible…and protect those two damn tanks. The longer you keep them intact, the longer you'll actually have a fighting chance. Everyone not in a vehicle, i.e. the last 68 of you, well…should the vehicle fleet be destroyed, your job is also simple: hold the line for as long as possible."

"Now, when I give the signal, everyone go to it…oh and one more thing, in the event that we fail to re-take the ship, everyone not assigned to the distraction unit will proceed to go and help the distraction unit. It's been one hell of a ride everyone," finished Griffiths as he clicked off his com.

Bracing to give the signal, he clicked on his com one last time. "Fitz, you ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be Roy," replied Fitzgerald who was tasked with leading the attack on the main covenant army.

"Alright then old friend…commence the attack…and Godspeed."

He was but one of many Major Domo in the covenant army, sharper than a razor, trained to kill and currently in command of the planet-side forces. Yet, he hadn't done any killing at all since he had gotten to this planet. Just when the main infantry force was about to charge, the order to stand down and fall back to the human city perimeter was given. While he obeyed without question, he, along with virtually everyone else out on the field was baffled by this directive. This was completely unprecedented and unacceptable. This was a directive that had never been given before in the history of their empire. It almost seemed surreal…but the order was clear and so was the voice who gave the order.

Still, something was odd about the past few minutes. He heard and felt a massive rumble coming towards him that only grew louder with each passing second and a huge cloud of dust started to form in its direction as well. He couldn't fight the urge any longer and brought his focus rifle to bear. What he saw nearly took his breath away: A large vehicular human force storming towards his position; A full-scale counter-attack on the humans part. Why? What was the meaning of this? Don't they realize they've lost already? There's no way they could win…was this the reason the fleet master told them to fall back? To give the humans time to prepare? Was there a traitor amongst their ranks? What in the name of the gods was going on?

Just then, a voice burst through his com. "What are you all doing just standing there?" came the fleet masters voice.

"Uhh…Fleet Master…you gave the order to fall back," replied the Major

"No, I did not. Our communications were hacked, a false order was given using a replication of my voice! Whoever did this bought the humans plenty of time to regroup and now they're heading straight for you! Stop standing around and go attack them!"

With that said, the Major clicked on his com and gave the order to charge.

Twenty Warthog's, all the Mongoose's, eight of the hornets and both Scorpion tanks charged the covenant army. It wasn't long before a stream of banshee's swooped in and began firing on the humans. The Warthogs returned fire, while the hornets moved to engage the banshees to try and take some weight off the ground forces. Ghost's charged the Warthogs and Wraiths began firing from afar on the human fleet. Their globs of brilliant white light struck the ground, destroying two of the warthogs. Tanks fired on the charging ghosts, lines of crossfire erupted, destroyed vehicles; banshees and hornets alike fell from the sky. Chaos was everywhere.

Griffiths watched as the alarm was sounded back at the makeshift base. He saw covenant coming out of their barracks, guards taking up positions, drivers/pilots rushing to the vehicle depot. He waited until he felt there were enough aliens at their posts.

"Now," he ordered. The first missile fired, its target dead in its sights. The missile struck the strewn about vehicles and exploded, covering most of the makeshift bay in a cloud of orange-white light and black smoke.

"Second one launch." The second missile was fired at the communications center. It struck the ancient stone structure the covenant had set up shop in, crippling it and forcing it to come crashing down, crushing all who were inside and in the immediate vicinity of the blast/collapse.

"Now the final one." The third missile made its way toward the barracks, it too being smothered in a massive explosion as the missile found its target. Satisfied with the damage, Griffiths ran to his Warthog.

"Ready for this Doyle?"

"Hell yeah Griffiths!"

"Alright, we got em nice and good boys. Hornet teams, move out and harass any survivors. Liberation Unit, we are ago!" he said over his com.

The Liberation unit, consisting of the Deus Ex Machina robot and the two Decapitators were guarded by two M41 Gunner Warthogs and three transport Warthogs from the back-side who were carrying 21 marines in total that were to aid the trio in re-taking the ship. The engines revved and the Liberation unit charged. As they sped towards their destination, Griffiths could see the hornets already hard at work killing any and all survivors and the gauss Warthogs keeping the hindrances off their backs. Sharp beams of white light passed over them and impacted on the defenses around the gravity lift with deadly accuracy.

As they approached the lift, the M41's opened fire, killing any remaining stragglers. Griffiths motioned to the other driver and made a hand sign. The two gunner warthogs reached their destination and took up strategic positions around the gravity lift to ward off any would-be liberators of the now human-controlled gravity lift. The trio stopped short of the lift and the transport hogs stopped right beside them, still in formation as all the occupants dismounted. Griffiths also dismounted and approached them, holding the pheromone in his hand.

"Alright, to our would-be super-heroes, go through the gravity lift. You'll most likely come out to the main loading bay of the ship. Wherever you come out on, kill everything that isn't human, secure the area and wait for us."

The trio nodded and went inside the lift.

Inside the ship, a hive of covenant activity scrambled all over the place, preparing to send a massive wad of reinforcements down to the surface when there was a flash of light from the gravity lift. Everyone turned to see two Sangheili and a robot standing there. They all knew who it was. Before anyone could act through, each member of the trio was on the target of their choosing. Within seconds, covenant were being slaughtered, equipment was being smashed, and all the enhancements given to them by Patrick and Leonard gave them a set of skills no one could match. As Griffiths watched from the robots perspective through the camera feed in his helmet, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. For the longest time, he had felt nothing but hopelessness and despair but now, seeing the covenant scrambling for help and being effortlessly slaughtered, seeing the tables turned, he couldn't help but smile.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a voice broke through the com. "Captain, have you retaken the ship yet? We're getting hammered out here!"

The humans were losing the battle and fast. The tanks were able to handle the ghosts and withstand the banshee's punishment and the warthogs were holding their own initially. It wasn't until the infantry charged that the battle started turning against their favor. There were just too many in the covenants ranks. The lesser vehicles were easily swarmed and the eight hornets were down to a mere three due to the superior number of banshees. The tanks had already killed what seemed like legions of covenant yet they still charged in a seemingly endless sea. They would soon be overwhelmed by the covenant and with their defeat would go any further defense of Salvation City. Time was running out…

"We just took the main vehicle bay and are about to enter the ship. Hang in there."

"Jesus Christ, hurry Roy!"

Griffiths turned to his team. "Alright everyone, the coast is clear, we're entering now! Doyle, stay here." With that, every marine not on warthog duty stepped into the gravity lift. One by one, they all ascended into the Pillar of Autumn II.

Inside, the whole place was trashed. Dead bodies hanging over terminals, impaled on communication arrays, body-size scorch marks embedded into the walls and floor, destroyed equipment both human and covenant strewn about everywhere and the three very handy helpers standing in the center of it all like a proud conquering army.

"Hot damn…" one of the marines said.

"I second that," replied Griffiths as his mind trailed off into the massacre he saw before them.

"Uh, anyways," he said clearing his thoughts. "Alright team, we're pushing into the command center. You three lead the way and kill anything that isn't human. The rest of you, cover their sixes and mop up anything that remains or follows us. We need to hurry, Fitzgerald won't last much longer. Move out!"

With that, everyone made a mad dash for the control room. The decapitators and robot lead the way with Griffiths behind them, directing them to the control room. Through the hallways, vehicle bays and living quarters they went, ripping through anything that stood in their way until at last they reached the control room. Taking care of some mild resistance, clearing out unnecessary covenant equipment and a quick analysis of the stations revealed that the covenant left the ship completely intact…a mistake that would cost them dearly. Leaving any non-essential personnel to guard the entrance (decapitator team included) Griffiths directed everyone to their appropriate stations.

"Alright everyone, you ready to kick some ass?" asked Griffiths.

"Sir Yes Sir!" everyone replied.

"Alright…Fitz come in. Can you hear me?

"Affirmative, where are you guys?"

"We've re-taken the ship, moving in to help you guys,"

"Well you might wanna hurry it the fuck up captain. The tanks have been destroyed and our vehicle fleet is almost gone entirely. What's worse: The infantry is already heading toward us! Uhh…don't worry about anyone out there, they're most likely all dead."

"Alright, stay calm we're on our way…oh and find a place to hunker down. Things are about to get noisy," finished Griffiths.

He then turned his attention to the crew. "Marines, time to kill us a covenant army. Virg, we ready to move?"

"Almost. Gravity lift…disabled…re-routing power to main engines…engines online, ready to go," he replied.

"25% power…and ready Archer pods A though I. I want a firing solution too once we're in visual range." With that said, The Pillar of Autumn II's engines roared to life, this time under human control and headed for the battlefield, ready to return a much-owed favor to the covenant ten times over.

The major domo was at the forefront of the mighty legions of infantry standing behind him. They had wiped out the humans vehicle force and the few remaining human infantry wouldn't stand a chance. After dealing with them, he would lead the attack into the city itself and wipe out humanity once and for all. It was to be a great day indeed…but it wasn't meant to be this time. Just as he was ready to give the attack order, he was swept off his feet as a massive sand storm suddenly started sweeping across the battlefield, winds so strong, they tossed both soldiers and inanimate objects around like toys. When he finally got back up on his feet, he looked around to see what the cause of that sudden storm was. There was no way it was a natural storm, it was too powerful and brief.

"We ready boys?" asked Griffiths.

"Firing solution ready, missiles locked, awaiting your signal."

"Good…send em all back to wherever they crawled out of."

Looking up though gave the domo his answer. The human ship was poised over the battlefield, looking right at them. It wasn't long before he saw numerous objects come flying out of the ship on either side. He watched as they all traveled gracefully through the air…and then started raining down on the wraiths from afar and erupting into clouds of orange-white light as they steadily worked their way toward him, taking anything that stood in their path with it. The major knew what was happening, the humans had won. All he could was close his eyes and wait for the first sign of paradise as his world was suddenly overcome by excruciating pain…and then nothing.

Back onboard the bridge, the crew was all cheers. The main covenant force had been wiped out and humanity finally had a genuine victory on their record. This would be a day of celebration indeed. Even Griffiths couldn't help but smile too…until reality quickly returned.

"Oh shit…everyone, quiet down!" he shouted. He quickly turned on his com. "Fitzgerald, you still there?"

No response.

"Fitz? Fitz! Goddamn it, answer me or so god help you!"

"…Roy…can you please not yell…my head hurts enough…"

"How many are left?" replied Griffiths softly.

"…here…we're all here…everyone that wasn't already in the fight…I…I can't even begin to explain, I…ah fuck it, just let me sleep," replied Fitzgerald.

Griffiths breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Alright buddy. Get some rest, you earned it."

Suddenly, one of the marines chimed in. "Uh, captain…what about the covenant fleet?"

Griffiths perked up. "Aw man, I forgot about that…well we'll most likely have to engage them. I don't think they'll be too happy once they find out their entire army's been wiped out. Regardless, our first task is to clear this ship of any covenant and round up any and all survivors on the surface and then we can start worrying about that damned fleet."

Just as he finished, a marine guarding the entrance burst into the room. "Captain, it's the robot and rogue covenant, they're acting strange."

"Oh you gotta be kidding me!" he exclaimed as he ran out to see what was happening. What he saw was the robot and decapitators simply standing there facing the marines who had all their guns trained on them while the robot was speaking nonsensically.

"Primary directives deactivated…humans no longer necessary…initiating final directive…"

"Christ, there's always something isn't there," said Griffiths now fully irritated. "Alright boys, get ready to blast em into oblivion…not that it'll much good."

"Final directive: Destroy Covenant Fleet: Initiated

"What?" said Griffiths. With that, the robot and decapitators turned around and ran off.

"Orders sir?"

"Follow them, everyone, let's go!" ordered Griffiths.

The trio, now acting alone on an unknown directive, ran toward the reactor room, too fast for Griffiths and his men to keep up. All they could hear was the sound of covenant being slaughtered, followed shortly by the sight of their mutilated bodies as the marines gave chase. After only a few minutes, they had reached the door to the reactor. The robot fired a full clip of grenades from his brute launcher while the decapitators finished knocking down the door as he reloaded. With that, they entered the room.

As the marines approached a three-way intersection in the hallways of the ship, it seemed as though they lost their rogue allies…that is until they heard a massive explosion. Everyone sped toward the reactor fearing the worst. The fighting only seemed to get louder with each passing step until they were right around the corner. As they ran down the last hallway before the entrance to the reactor, a brilliant flash of light came from the room. Griffiths thought they had destroyed the reactor and that it was all over for them…until the light subsided. Puzzled, he stepped inside the reactor room only to find what could only be described as a large archway with a strange double-helix shaped greenish glow in the middle. Of course, there were dead covenant and their smashed gear all over the place to accommodate it as well.

"What is that captain?" one of the marines asked.

"To be perfectly honest…I don't know…but more importantly, where did our little friends go?"

"I think I know what it is," another Marine said. "I think this is what the covenant have been using to transport all their troops and gear onto this ship. I mean, it's big enough to fit a phantom or a wraith through."

Everyone gave the marine an odd look, including Griffiths. "Y'know…as crazy as that sounds…it's perfectly tangible in this case…good job marine."

"Thanks sir…but umm…what exactly are we going to do now that our friends are gone? I mean…more covenant could come through here any second," he added.

"Oh, right…well first thing we should do is see if we can get this thing deactivated…or smash it or something and then-" The greenish glow suddenly died, perplexing everyone.

"Ok…I don't mean to be rude sir, but exactly what the fuck is going on here?" said the first marine after about a minute of just standing there.

"Again, I don't-"

"Roy!" Doyle interrupted suddenly. "You need to get outside and fast!"

"Why? What's happening?"

"The covenant mothership…it just blew up…and it took the other five ships with it!"

"Karl…are you saying that-"

"Yes sir…yes I am…the war is over…and we're victorious!"

Authors note: Terribly sorry for this taking so long. Blame writers block, a really bad case of writers block. Hope you enjoyed this. Only two more chapters to go. Next one will focus on the final elements of the story and then we can start what everyone's wanted all along: Jon vs Patrick in a fight to the death.