Disclaimer – Own nothing.
AN – So this chapter is a little late, sorry about that, but I'm finally finished exams, which means the school year is officially OVER! However, I still will be slightly busy with packing and heading home and such, but I will try to make sure next update will be on time. Again Jubs, thank you so much for your review! I'm so happy you like the story and where it's going. I hope it doesn't disappoint.
Enjoy!
There are no victories, there's only the battle. And the best that you could hope for is that you find some place where you can make your stand. – Captain Montgomery, Castle
Hal, Matt, and Maggie stared at the city ahead of them in stunned silence. Washington was still a few miles away, but they could still see it from their position. To Hal, it reminded him of one of the many dystopian movies he had watched with his friends back before the invasion, but to see it in real life was devastating. One glance at Maggie and Matt told Hal they felt the same way.
Seeing the vehicles ahead of him stop, Hal moved his foot from the gas to the brake. Once the truck stopped, Hal put the truck in park and climbed out. Hal quickly spotted his Dad with Weaver, Cochise, and Ben. He waited for Matt and Maggie to get out of the truck, then they went over to the leaders.
"Everyone here?" Tom asked Weaver. The Colonel looked over at the soldiers getting out of the vehicles, mentally counting them. He gave Tom a nod when he saw they were all there. The President then looked over at Cochise.
"Are the space ships ready?"
"Yes. They are in the trees less than half a mile from here waiting." Cochise answered.
"Okay, Pope, you and your Berserkers are going to go with two of Volm squadrons to this part of the city." Tom informed the criminal, pointing to a spot on the map, "Once we get this power source destroyed, we'll meet up and head straight for the Queen. Got it?"
"Don't worry Mason, we'll keep those aliens off your back, as long as you do your part." Pope answered, taking the safety off his gun. Tom ignored the comment Pope made and turned to his sons.
"Good. Hal, Ben, Deni, you guys good to go?" Tom asked.
"Yes sir." Ben answered.
"Okay, Kadar and Anthony are going with you guys. Butterfield, and Jefferson's group will be attacking the other end of the city with the other two Volm groups and their ships, leaving the rest of us to attack on the ground. Weaver, Matt, Maggie, Tector, Cochise, and I will try to help keep the Espheni's attention off of you. You guys have to get to this power source as quickly and discreetly as possible. Can you guys do that?" Tom made sure.
"Yeah, we can do that." Hal replied.
"Okay. Anne, you are going to stay with the rest of the Volm and their two remaining ships." Tom told the doctor, knowing that was the closest they could get her war zone so the injured could get to her faster, yet still be safe at the same time. Anne nodded.
"Alright, let's get moving."
FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS
If Kadar squeals one more time, I'll give him something to full on scream about, Hal thought to himself as he watched the doctor jump away from the bushes. The minute the group broke up from the rest of the soldiers, Kadar's lack of experience in the field and his fear of everything became obvious. He had tripped four times, once over his own feet, and had either shrieked or squealed three times when so much as a bush moved. Though, he did seem to do it as quietly as possible.
"Remind me to never do this again." Kadar requested, walking behind Hal and Ben, while Deni and Anthony came up behind the doctor.
"What? Squeal, or leave Charleston?" Hal asked for clarification with a smirk on his face that Kadar couldn't see.
"Leave Charleston." Kadar answered.
"Okay, but we'd also appreciate if you tried to be quieter." Anthony told him.
"And no one made you come." Hal pointed out, somewhat annoyed yet more nervous with the scientist's presence.
"Your father did actually." Kadar revealed.
"Whatever, you are here, and the louder we are, the more likely we are to be found. So, unless you do want skitters and Mechs to start firing at us, I suggest you be quiet." Hal responded. That got the doctor to finally shut up, though whenever Hal glanced back to make sure Deni, Anthony, and Kadar were still with them, he saw the look of annoyance on the older man's face.
Slowly, the group made its way farther into the city. It wasn't much longer until they all started hearing distance sound of guns and Mechs firing. Hal looked over at Ben, and saw that the teenager could hear it too. The other groups of the 2nd Mass had started their attacks.
"Everything appears to be going as planned." Kadar whispered, trying to keep himself calm. He hated guns, weapons, and violence of any kind.
"Yup, but let's not jinx it, shall we?" Deni whispered back. Ben and Hal were too focused on their surroundings to pay much attention to what the two were saying.
As they got farther into the city, Hal suddenly stopped in his tracks. The air seemed to be more thicker, and he felt as though there was a light breeze, but, not a breeze, hitting him in the chest.
"Hal?" Ben tried to get his brother's attention. Hal had just suddenly stopped and seemed to have completely blanked out. At first, he wondered if there were skitters or an Overlord nearby, but he couldn't sense any.
The black-haired man jumped when he heard his brother call out his name. He looked over at Ben in mild confusion.
"Do you feel that?" Hal asked. Ben shook his head, but then felt his spikes start to tingle. He focused on his connection to the Espheni, and felt a something like a thick wind hit his spikes.
"Yeah." Ben replied.
"What is that?" Deni questioned. When she saw Ben's spikes light up, she let her own spikes react to what was going on, and started feeling the same thing that Ben and Hal did.
"Is it the power source?" Ben wondered. Hal nodded, lowering his mental guard, and felt the strange breeze hitting him harder.
"I don't feel anything." Anthony chimed in, looking at the three of them in mild concern.
"We won't. We aren't connected to it like they are. They're feeling it the way a radio picks up radio waves. They're radios, we aren't, so we don't feel it." Kadar explained to the former police officer.
"Does that mean we're getting close?" Anthony wondered, looking over at Hal, who again, nodded.
"Over there." Hal pointed his rifle to the right.
They started heading down the direction in Hal led them in until they came across what looked like to be an abandoned office building that had at least five floors. There were skitters scurrying around, four Mega Mechs standing guard, and two Overlords walking around looking nervous. Everyone crouched down behind a line of bushes, their heads peaking out so they could see.
"I think we found it." Ben told his brother, seeing all the aliens who were guarding the building.
"Really, what gave it away?" Hal asked sarcastically and Ben pushed down the urge to get into a verbal fight with his brother.
"So, how do we get in?" Deni wondered, looking at all the Espheni.
"How about you guys distract the guards, I'll sneak inside with Kadar and destroy the power source?" Hal suggested.
"There could be more inside, and they could call for reinforcements. They know they're being attacked, they would draw closer to whatever they want to keep protected. This power source would definitely be something they would keep safe at all costs." Ben pointed out.
"You got a better plan?" Hal questioned, but Ben didn't have a chance to answer because at that moment, Kadar moved his knee onto a stick that snapped loudly. Everyone ducked out of sight, but it was too late. They could all hear the skitters and Mechs making their way towards them. They all turned to leave, but there were already two skitters in the way, watching them.
"Guess we aren't doing this quietly." Deni commented, and they started firing at the skitters, effectively drawing the attention of the Espheni in the area.
Once the fighters killed the two skitters, they stood up, and started moving towards the building, firing at the aliens as they went. Kadar stayed behind the soldiers, head down so he wouldn't get hit as the Mechs also started firing at them.
As more skitters started coming towards them, Hal managed to look around, and saw an entrance to the building that was now unguarded. He looked back at the other members of his group, and saw they were well distracted. This was probably the best chance he would get of sneaking into the building and destroying the power source without anyone realizing it and without putting anyone in danger.
Despite the guilt he started feeling at the thought of leaving everyone to fight the Espheni by themselves, he slipped into the building. He knew he had to do this, and he had to do this now.
FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS
Hal slowly made his way through the building. So far, no one had followed him. The echoing sounds of gunfire from outside told him that they were still fighting the skitters and Mechs, so odds were, they didn't realize that he was gone. It wouldn't take long for them, especially Ben, to notice though, so Hal had to act quickly.
The building was big, full of hallways and doors, but it seemed the farther he got inside, the stronger the connection got. He could feel the power source, pulling him closer to it like rope tied around him.
So far, the place was empty. He couldn't see, hear, or sense any Espheni. They probably all went outside once they heard the gunfire. After all, they wouldn't want anyone getting close to their power source. He hoped they wouldn't realize he had gotten through. When they started attacking the Espheni, the Overlords seemed to have backed off, so Hal hoped they hadn't come inside and taken the power crystal before he could destroy it.
The invisible energy wave Hal had been feeling got stronger and stronger with every step he took. He was getting closer. Finally, has he turned a corner, he saw a door at the end of the hall, and he knew the crystal was just behind the door. He could faintly see the bright blue light shining out of the cracks of the door.
Still not seeing or hearing any skitters, Hal made his way to the end of the corridor and entered the room. The crystal was sitting in its glass box on the table in the middle of the room. There was no one else around and he started walking towards it.
He looked at the box, trying to find a way to open it, when he noticed that the sounds of gun and Mech fire had stopped. Either his team had killed the guards and were soon going to notice that he was missing and come find him, or, the Espheni killed them and would probably come and check on the power source. Either way, Hal had to act now.
Looking at the box again, he noticed a pair of hinges on the bottom on the opposite side. Hal placed his hand on the glass, and pushed up. The box opened easily, and the stone's light started pulsing, like it was a heartbeat. Once the box was completely opened, Hal stuck his hand inside and touched the crystal.
Hal immediately felt his energy start to drain, and the veins in his arm and hand started turning blue as it moved towards the stone. He kept his hand in position as the power source started to glow its brilliant blue color. Then, he started hearing a cracking noise, like glass being crunched under someone's boot.
Cracks started to appear on the stone's smooth surface, causing the light to shift into random beams shooting out into all directions. All of Hal's instincts told him to pull his hand away and run as fast as he could, but he kept himself still until the glowing in his arm stopped, telling him that everything and anything he had received from it had been given back.
He pulled away as the glowing in the stone turned to yellow and orange and the cracking noise got louder and more frequent. He started walking backwards, and was about to turn to run when he felt a powerful and burning hot force push him into the door. The world went black before he even hit the ground.