Resident Halo

Chapter Six

Earth Calendar January 28, 2553.
New Mombassa, Earth.
Metropolitan area.

As Neo peered into the sky, dozens of Pelicans hovered over the city of New Mombassa, scurrying around in the air like the birds they were named after. The radio chatter had increased tenfold in the past hours that Neo, and his team of ODSTs had been stranded in New Mombassa. The amount of zombie attacks and pleas for help had increased greatly, and then suddenly, decreased.

Strange sightings of an unknown creature were reported, and then the report shut off. Neo kept his fear down, the safety of his squad depended on it. For now, they'd worry about getting the fuck out of the city, and the monster later. A few hours later, the Pelicans in the air had disappeared, and nightfall hit the city.

Neo had lain down on a makeshift bed, made from a Warthog's chairs. It was uncomfortable, yes, but it was better than sleeping on the road, with all the blood on them. A few waves of zombies attacked the ODST camp, but were quickly mowed down by the snipers and chain guns.

The Marines were tired out, and Neo had them rest, while his ODSTs manned the camp's defenses. Neo had the ODSTs switch off every hour, and alert the second watch of anything nearby. Neo's mind raced with the events of the past week: from the Hive, to this very moment. Neo calmed himself, and eventually fell asleep.

Corporal Carl "Chaos" Phregos was busy working on a Warthog chassis that was damaged long ago. Chaos was trying to get the damn thing started up again, but his primary concern was the radio. The squad's radio had died out a few hours ago, and if the team had any chance of getting out of this nightmare, they'd need a working radio.

Neo had awoken from his slumber, and walked over to Chaos. "How's the repair work going?" Neo asked. Chaos didn't turn, but kept working on the car.

"Fine," said Chaos, not including the honorific sir. Chaos was a loyal Umbrella soldier, and he had heard the rumors of what had happened at the Hive; and the rumors of Neo's betrayal to Umbrella. He liked Neo, but didn't respect him. Neo apparently didn't notice the lack of the honorific, or didn't care. "I've managed to get the fuel problems fixed up, but it'll be sometime before I can get her-" and he was cut off by the sound of a mechanical roar from the car.

"Gotcha ya little bastard! As I was sayin', I got the car up. There's a few rounds for the Gauss Cannon, but not enough for a sustained firefight." Neo nodded.

"Alright. I'll send a scout team to find a new location. I want to stay on the move from this monster that we've been hearing reports of. Take a break, Corporal, you look bushed." Chaos nodded, and walked back to the camp. Neo sighed, the man was a good soldier, but to damn loyal to the Corporation. He'd have to deal with him sometime before they left the city.

Three of the UNSC Marines climbed aboard the Warthog, and sped off, trailing dust, blood, and papers as they rushed deeper into the city. A quiet hour later, with the sun in the horizon, the Marines returned. The UNSC Corporal who was in charge of the team saluted to Neo.

"Sir, we've found an optimal location for our new base camp. He pulled out an old fashioned map of the city, and laid it on the street, keeping it in place with his SMG. He pointed to a sector of the city that, if Neo's memory served him well, was under construction.

"It's called Headlong, and it's about three miles away from our present location," and he indicated it on the map, "it's at the edge of the city, and one of the few areas sealed off by Umbrella." He said the name with obvious scorn. "There are three buildings already set up in this area, and one under construction. I think we can hide out well in one of these three buildings."

Neo nodded, and called out to the ODSTs. "Men! We're moving out! Pack up your gear, and meet over here in five minutes!" The ODSTs and Marines scrambled into action, and in five minutes had the camp secured, and all gear taken. Then, the survivors started the long march to Headlong. The Warthog that Chaos had fixed drove along side them at a slow pace; it's Gauss Cannon watching over the Marines and ODSTs.

The Humans were ambushed twice on their five hour trek to Headlong, and by the time the Humans arrived, only a squad of Marines, and fifteen ODSTs remained, the Warthog destroyed in an ambush by a group of Lickers and mutant dogs. Neo looked at this mission chronometer, which read "2200 Hours, January 30, 2553". The Humans walked through a massive ten-meter traffic gate, which sealed the sector from all others.

Neo looked around, and noticed the buildings that the Corporal pointed earlier on the map. There was a police station, with dozens of Warthog chassis blown up and on fire in front of it. Neo activated his binocular vision, and noticed a pair of soda machines knocked down in front of the station. There was also a small villa, with a bridge connecting over an incomplete high way running through the sector to an even larger building.

Neo could see, hundreds of meters away, a massive ten-story building under construction, with the Umbrella Corporation logo emblazoned on the sides. Figures that they would be here, Neo thought. Neo ordered the contingent of Marines and ODSTs up to the villa, and had the snipers keep watch at each entrance to the villa. The villa was vulnerable if someone jumped up onto it from the concrete pillars below, but the zombies weren't that intelligent, so Neo was pretty confident that they'd be safe.

Neo had the first watch take position, placed his rifle down, and sat down, lying his head back on a metal structure jutting out of the villa, and he quickly fell to sleep…

"Sir! Sir! Wake up!" Neo opened his eyes wearily as Reaver shook Neo's shoulders with both his hands. "Sir! Zombies!" Neo was alert.

"Where?" Neo asked, standing up, grabbing his rifle; he didn't have to have Reaver answer his question he just looked around. For a moment, Neo thought that there was nothing there, but he blinked twice. All around them, from dozens of meters away, came thousands and thousands of zombies. His combat instincts became alert, and he didn't hesitate.

"Fire!" Neo shouted, and fired a three-round burst into a teenage girl. The girl flew back, and knocked over a dozen zombies behind her. Neo heard Reaver mutter a joke.

"Guess this is why we haven't seen many survivors," Reaver said, as he emptied a clip from his SMG into the crowd of zombies. Ramos fired his last two rockets into the horde, and chucked his rocket launcher at a group of zombies. Chaos and Pica didn't even have to aim their snipers to get a shot.

A scream, and an ODST was grabbed and taken into the mass of hands. Neo primed a grenade, and yelled: "Grenades! Over the top!" And he threw it. Multiple plumes exploded in the sea of people, and limbs and blood filled the air. Neo could barely hear anything over the crackle of automatic weapons, and the thousands of moans that rang through the air.

Neo heard an engine whine, and a UNSC Longsword flew overhead, and dropped a pair of precision bombs, and fired its chain gun into the crowd. Neo shielded his eyes, and a bright light filled the villa.

When Neo opened his eyes again, a good amount of the zombies were vaporized. Bodies littered the streets, with blood oozing out of every pore in their body. Limbs littered the villa, including some that belonged to the fallen ODSTs. A few zombies tried to get up, but the Marines shoot each one in the head. A good hundred were left, and the humans quickly brought them down with dozens of well-placed headshots.

Neo inspected his weapons, and turned to each of the surviving humans. He counted them up. All the Marines were still alive, but only ten ODSTs were left: Snake, Ramos, himself, Reaver, Pica, Chaos, Navy, Keith, and two others he didn't remember off the top of his head.

He looked at each of them. "Any of you have any ammo left?" They inspected their own weapons, and nodded negatively. "Great," said Neo.

"Sir," said Reaver. "Don't you think we should inspect the Police Station, or at least the other two buildings here? There might be some weapons left behind." Neo nodded.

"Alright," he said, facing the twenty survivors. "We'll split up into five groups of four. Alpha group," and he pointed to Chaos, Pica, Reaver, and a Marine. "You'll stay here. Beta group, clean up these bodies, search them for some ammo, weapons, anything. Keep your guard up, some of them might be fakin' it." The four Marines that comprised Beta group nodded, and got on with their grim task.

"Delta group," and he pointed to Snake, Keith, Ramos, and Navy. "Check that building, let's just call it the Building, for now, for any supplies we could use. Epsilon group, inspect the Umbrella building. The rest of you are with me, we're headin' to the Police Station."

The men and women nodded, and got to work.

A mile away, a car was overturned, and another exploded; mild events in New Mombassa since the Hive incident. A group of zombies scattered and were brought down by a quick burst from a heavy machine gun, the kind used on a Warthog. The massive creature hefted it with one hand.

A zombie snuck up behind the creature, and bit it in the neck. The creature didn't wince, but casually turned around, and fired a dozen rounds in the zombie's chest, and another dozen in her head. The woman's corpse, riddled with bullets, fell to the ground, adding onto a trail of zombies that was thousands long, from cats, dogs, and humans, to Lickers.

The creature's eye glared red, and it marched off in search of new prey.

Neo turned over the body of a police officer, and a red rectangular crate. He closed the eyes of the officer, and relieved him of his sidearm. Neo and his team had been lucky in their search for supplies. They had taken one of the many supply crates that littered the station, and filled it with whatever they could find. Dozens of spare magazines for every type of weapon imaginable, rocket launchers, grenades, sniper rifles, it was all here.

They also found a radio, but it was long since rendered inoperable. One of the Marines also "liberated" dozens of soda cans from the machines outside. They were still surprisingly cold. The team also found spare rations, and batteries, and a couple of patches for their armor, and extra body armor for the Marines.

It was all-good for Neo's team, but not for Neo himself. All he wanted was a radio to contact someone, and get the hell out of this bad horror film. A nap would be nice too, in a nice, warm, feather bed. Neo was lugging the supply crate and walked the short distance back to the villa, where the other teams had found similar luck.

From the looks of it, there was enough ammo to last a siege, and there were multiple turrets set up that the humans had salvaged from the Warthogs destroyed near the station. The humans had enjoyed a few hours of silence until…

The creature knew no name. It did not remember anything of its previous life. Only its objective: kill anyone and everything that moved.

It powered up its massive gun and rocket launcher, as it walked through a massive gate, with the bodies of dozens and the vehicles they drove littered the streets of the once mighty Human race. The only signs of activity were directly ahead. The computer controlled sensor systems in its built-in HUD, located in its only eye activated.

Marines: 10
ODSTs: 10

Objective: engage and destroy Marines and ODSTs.

It raised its weapons and prepared to attack.

Snake looked completely and utterly shocked, even through his helmeted features. "What the hell is that?" he asked, lowering his Battle Rifle scope. Neo walked over to Snake, and looked through his own Battle Rifle. Neo froze as well.

"Nemesis…"

"What, sir?" asked Snake.

"Nothing. That creature is slow, but well armed and armored. We need to get to better ground. Watch out, he has a rocket launcher!" And the creature, which Neo called "Nemesis", raised its weapon and locked on to the three Marines manning the turrets. The launcher sputtered three rockets, and they flew true to their targets. Neo shouted a warning, and ducked behind a massive concrete pillar. The other ODSTs and Marines followed suit.

The three Marines didn't have time to jump off from the turrets, and were engulfed in a burning orange flame. Bits of concrete were blasted away from the pillar, and Neo shouted. "Open fire!" And he opened up with his Battle Rifle. Ramos raised his rocket launcher, and shouted to an ODST,

"Snake! Help me load this up!" Snake picked up a rocket pack, opened it, and locked them into the launcher.

On Nemesis' HUD, warning lights flashed. The HUD targeted Ramos and Snake: Threat Moderate. It raised its Machine gun, and lowered the Rocket Launcher. It fired, and hundreds of round casings were ejected, and littered the roadways.

Ramos and Snake were wiped out without a chance, and with Nemesis firing that damned machine gun, there was no way Neo would be able to grab the rocket. In a few seconds, Nemesis had wiped out the last Marines of Neo's team, and killed Keith, and the two ODSTs whose names were forgotten by Neo.

Pica, Chaos and Reaver jumped off the villa, and down behind a wrecked bus, using it as cover. Navy quickly grabbed the last few weapons and gear he could, and followed suite. Neo stood his ground behind the concrete pillar. A bullet flew past, and nicked him in the shoulder. Neo winced, but stood his ground.

A Pelican flew overhead, and Nemesis roared, as if in disappointment, and walked off in the other direction. Neo blinked, but jumped from the villa and joined his fellow ODSTs.

"Any idea what the fuck just happened?" Asked Neo. Before anyone could reply, the zombie hordes returned, and the ODSTs were back at it, fighting for their lives against the endless waves of undead.

Mark McCormick stood at the ramp of the Pelican Gamma 018, and watched as dozens of Umbrella soldiers secured the Nemesis Prototype. The Umbrella goons were lucky, no zombies yet. The Nemesis looked as fierce as ever, but McCormick noticed something on its hideous face: a look of disappointment. McCormick grinned, the creature wanted to stay and fight.

He'd have to make a note of that when they returned to Umbrella HQ. Nemesis was strapped into another Orbital Drop Box, and hooked up to the Pelican. The soldiers clambered up the ramp, and the turbines of the craft whined, as it flew into the sky.

Neo ejected a clip from his M6C and reloaded, as Navy and the other ODSTs were struggling to get a Warthog inside the Base, which was now pocketed with bullets and casings. The Humans were lucky to have found so much ammo earlier on. What they weren't about was that the massive Titanium-A blast doors, which connected Headlong to the other sectors of the city, had slammed shut as Nemesis left.

Now it was just the five humans, and hundreds of angry and hungry zombies.

Navy hit the gas, and the car crushed the concrete block that was keeping all motor vehicles outside of the building. Navy drove the car up the stairs of the Base, past an open catwalk, and up another staircase. He made a right turn, drove for a few meters, and slammed into a pile of packing boxes.

Navy, Pica, Chaos, and Reaver went quick to work setting up the barricade of boxes, while Neo watched them with his rifle. They set up in a matter of seconds, and Navy climbed into the 'Hog. Zombies, moaning, and coming up by the dozens, walked up the staircases, and charged towards the barricade. Navy opened up with the chain-gun, and the zombies went down.

A few got up, heads still intact, but were brought down by a well-placed grenade. A Licker leaped out from nowhere, and jumped onto Navy, biting chucks of flesh out from his body. Neo shouted a cry, and fired with his pistol and SMG. Reaver, Chaos, and Pica ignored the Licker, and focused on the hordes of zombies. The Licker uttered a scream, and it extended its tongue at Neo.

Neo dropped his pistol and SMG, and pulled out a standard issue combat knife, and sliced the Licker's tongue off. It screamed, and pounced at Neo. Neo kicked it in the creature's abdomen, and sliced with his knife. It screamed once, and died.

The zombies still kept coming, and Neo was running out of ammo. He relieved Navy of his gear, sheathed his knife, picked up his pistol and SMG and shouted. "Come on! We gotta get out of here!" Neo leapt out of the Base, with Chaos, Pica, and Reaver following suit.

They ran literally around the sector, with the zombies chasing. Half running, and half shooting, the ODSTs fled for their lives. It was a matter of hours later that they found themselves back at the Base. The Warthog that Navy worked so hard to get in was totaled.

Navy cursed at the burning wreckage, as it somehow managed to fall down the stairs. He went to pick up the chain-gun of the 'Hog, and in moments, found himself very much dead. A zombie was hiding near the Warthog, and now Navy lay on the ground. Neo aimed his pistol and killed the zombie with a headshot.

Pica walked over to Navy's corpse, and picked up the chain-gun, and the group returned to the Base.

A beautiful blonde girl with a very attractive figure, and a few dozen ammo clips and guns of various types was watching the ODSTs through her sniper scope. She saw the flashes of gunfire in the building just across from her, and the three black-armored ODSTs jumping from the building and down into a Warthog, with zombies chasing after them.

She was quite surprised that the zombies had not found her yet, probably because she was hiding relatively high up at the Umbrella Corporation building. The ODSTs had driven from the Base, to Main Street, over the incomplete Main Street Bridge, and over to Exterior City Gate G95. The woman frowned, the gate was opened.

I'm going to have to deal with that,she thought. She peered through the sniper rifle again, and noticed the Humans in their deadlocked position, with thousands of zombies in the highway outside charging down at them. She sighed, and decided to be kind enough to help them.

She hefted her rocket launcher and sniper rifle, and jumped from the incomplete fifth story of Umbrella, down to the next story, and continued till she reached an optimal firing position.

"Oh shit," said Neo, as the hundreds of zombies came walking towards them. Chaos cursed, and Reaver aimed the turret at the zombies. He pulled the firing stubs, but a click sounded. Nothing. The gun was out of ammo. Cursing, Reaver pulled out his pistol, and was prepared to make his last stand.

As a group of zombies were within grabbing distance to the ODSTs, they fell, as the staccato of sniper fire sounded through the air. The ODSTs were confused, and so were, apparently, the zombies. Then, a pair of rockets flew from nowhere, and connected with the zombies, killing dozens.

The zombies looked around, searching for their new assailant, while others continued towards the ODSTs. Neo, Chaos, and Reaver opened fire with their guns, dropping dozens. More sniper staccato, and four rows of zombies dropped. Whoever is firing that, thought Neo, is very talented.
Neo threw a grenade, and dropped a bunch of the zombies, with Chaos and Reaver doing the same. Pistol fire and SMG fire now sounded through the air, and Neo turned to face the source. A woman with short cut blonde hair, and Neo noted, deep blue eyes, came firing, sprinting towards the ODSTs.

With thanks to the woman, the zombies were dispatched in a few seconds. She reloaded, flipped her pistols, and holstered them, and walked to the ODSTs. She grinned, and held an outstretched hand to Neo. Neo grabbed her hand, and grinned back, but realized she couldn't see it.

He shook her hand, and took his helmet off. "I'm Captain Charles O'Neil, my comrades call me Neo. I'm commander of these men."

She raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. "Only three, Captain? Or should I just call you Neo? Doesn't your employers have enough to give you more."

Neo grimly smiled. "I had a squad under my command, but they were killed."

She frowned. "I'm sorry for your men." She noted his Umbrella insignia, and winced. "Well, sort of." Neo followed her gaze, and frowned as well.

"Well, who are you?" blurted out Chaos. The woman looked up at Chaos' reflective helmet, and stared him in the eye, even though she couldn't see his eyes.

"My… associates call me Cam," she said. Chaos didn't seem impressed at all.

"Where did you learn to do, well whatever the hell it was that you did?" he asked impatiently.

"I work for a…an organization dedicated to bringing down Umbrella using whatever means possible, from peaceful to…well whatever we can do."

Chaos took his helmet off, and looked outraged. "So you're a terrorist." Out of the group present, he was the only one actually loyal to Umbrella.

A spark flared in Cam's eyes. "I think some people would call me a revolutionary." She stepped closer to Chaos, with equal rage. Neo stepped in between the two, and held up his hands.

"Enough! We need to worry about sealing this gate, otherwise, the infection will spread outside the city. We maybe free, but others shouldn't die because of our carelessness."

Cam broke eye contact with Chaos, and looked up with Neo, the spark lost. "Your right." She did a mock salute. "What do you want me to do, El Capitan?" Neo grinned.

"We need to find the emergency gate controls, and close the gate, permanently. We don't have much time." As if to emphasize his point, a pair of Longswords, and dozens of Pelicans roared above the humans. "Reaver, stay here and guard the Warthog. Chaos, you, Cam, and me will go and find the emergency controls, and shut the gate down. We need to hurry."

Chaos simply put his helmet on and nodded. Cam gave Neo a wink. Neo put his own helmet on. "Let's go."

Chaos didn't think much of anything out of Umbrella, and he especially didn't think highly of Cam. She was just another show-off, smartass bitch trying to depose of his company. But she was also the key to his getting out of this city alive, and that infuriated him. Neo didn't seem to notice his anger, or he didn't seem to care, and Chaos frankly didn't care if Neo did care.

Cam gave Neo some extra clips for his pistols, and he gave her his SMGs. Neo, with dual M6Cs, smartly led the group. Cam was in the middle, and Chaos brought up the rear. The trio walked upward on the totaled First Street Road, as fire, cars, and craters pocketed the road. There were no bodies on the street, but there was also no blood either.

Chaos kept walking, keeping him cool, and found him in the lead of the group. He kept walking, with no purpose, until a shadow snuck up behind him, and grabbed him on the neck. He spun, pistol at ready, and found…Cam, grabbing him. He almost shot, but realized she was giggling.

"Sorry, I just had to do that." Chaos rolled his eyes at the woman's foolishness, and returned to his position in the rear.

Cam giggled one more time, and consulted a portable wrist-computer, and typed in a few commands. She pointed to the right, to an elevated catwalk, which lead to a small building. "It's in there," she said. Neo nodded, and crouch-walked over to the catwalk. He did a jump and roll, both pistols aimed forward, swept the area. He nodded back at Cam, and she nodded in return.

Chaos sighed explosively in disgust. Neo was being such a showoff in front of the heretical woman, and that lowered his own opinion of his commander. Cam cautiously walked up to Neo's position, and slipped on accident, grabbing onto Neo. He turned, and grabbed her back up. She smiled, and blushed, as she got to her feet.

Chaos rolled his eyes and just walked past the two morons. Neo held up a hand. "Wait! We don't know if-" And before he could finish his warning, a zombie in police uniform jumped out of a closet, and grabbed Chaos. He hissed, and took a chunk clean out of Chaos' neck. He groaned, spun around, and kicked the zombie in the crotch, and then pushed him away.

The zombie bounced into Cam, who shrieked, forgetting her training, and Neo punched the man in the face. Teeth scattering out from his mouth, the zombie fell to the concrete ground, dead. Chaos simply rubbed his wound, which made it hurt more, and got up. He activated the suit's flashlights, and climbed the stairs of the small shack.

He kicked open the rusted metal door, and found no bodies. He also found a small console flashing red and green warning, walked over to it, and smiled. "This must be it." He kicked the console, and it flashed red, and then to green, and stopped.

The console was dead. Chaos cursed, and broke open the access panel, and started to connect the wiring together. A few moments later, the computer flashed to life again, and he stood up triumphant. He heard a clank, and didn't turn around. Neo and Cam were right behind him, he knew, and it must've been them.

A pair of hands grabbed him on the neck, and he didn't turn. "Cam, we don't have time for these- Ah!" A zombie had emerged from the darkness, and bit Chaos again, and again and again.

The last thing Chaos saw was the trickling of blood down his eyes, and intense pain as he was eaten alive.

Neo and Cam heard the scream, and came rushing into the room. A woman had taken multiple bites into Chaos, who was slumped on the floor, blood spilling from dozens of injuries.

Cam raised a pistol, and shot the woman in the head, which fell to the ground dead. Cam walked up to her, and shot her four more times in the head, just to be sure, and turned to Chaos, and fired four more into his head. She reloaded. "I have to make sure he won't just pop out and kill us." She said.

She walked up to the console, and read the words flashing on the screen. She hit a few commands, and then crouched down, and placed a charge on the wiring of the console.

"The gate should be sealed now," she said. "Now to make sure it stays that way." A beep, and she grabbed Neo, who she noted had a nice physique, and ran out the door. "Come on!" The two ran out of the shack, and into the street, when it exploded.

"Gotta be loud, huh?" asked Neo.

Cam grinned. "Yep."

Reaver heard the explosion as the gates slammed shut. No zombies yet, and that was a good sign. A few minutes later, Cam and Neo walked up to the Warthog. Reaver noticed that Chaos wasn't with them. "What happened to Chaos?"

Neo and Cam shook their heads. "Didn't make it." The radio on the 'Hog crackled.

"Attention all Umbrella personal! The city is about to be sterilized, evac the area, repeat, evac the area!" And the Radio clicked dead.

"Sterilized?" asked a confused Cam. Neo turned to Reaver, and jumped into the driver seat, Reaver removed the turret, and sat in the back part of the car. "Get in! Fast!" Cam was still confused, but jumped into the passenger seat of the car. Neo hit the gas, and sped quickly away from New Mombassa.

From afar, a pair of Longswords was rushing towards the city. Neo wasn't very sure about their chances for survival now. The Warthog wouldn't be able to clear the city in time, even at max speed. Cam spoke and ruined Neo's thought. "So, what's this sterilization?"

"The Umbrella Corporation is going to nuke the city, and wipe out the infection, and the potential to spread. The blast will be so large, I don't think we'll be able to get out of here alive."

Cam blinked, but didn't look terrified. "Well, how will they cover it up?"

"They don't," said Neo. "They simply say that there was an outbreak that was completely unstoppable, and they were preserving the human race. No one will know that they were the ones responsible for the outbreak."

Neo kept driving as he spoke, but Cam jumped up and pointed, which caused Neo to hit the brakes. "What!"

"There! It's a Pelican!" Neo looked ahead, blinked and rubbed his eyes, and looked again. It was still there, a Pelican without UNSC markings or the Umbrella Corporation logo. "What the hell is that doing here?"

Cam smiled. "My ride. Come on!" And she jumped out of the Warthog, Neo and Reaver behind her. Cam strapped herself in the pilot's chair, and fired up the engines. Neo and Reaver closed the ramps, and grabbed a handhold. In a few minutes, they were in the air.

"Compliments of my associates," Cam said. The Longswords fired a missile, and Neo squinted to ID it. It was probably a Shiva nuclear missile, the kind used in the Covenant War. Those things were outdated, but they still got the job done. The Pelican was a safe distance away when a bright flash lit up the sky. Neo activated the rear camera of the Pelican, and put it on the co-pilot's screen.

A big ball of energy had engulfed New Mombassa, and a shockwave shook the Pelican. The craft's systems, however, were fully functional. A mushroom cloud formed over the ruins of the city, with dozens of craft flying as fast as they could away from the din of death.

"We're we going now?" asked Reaver, as Neo switched the panel off.

"To my associates."