"Get back!" Corrin's rage roared. The chute draped over his back like a great cloak. The Imperials stepped back in fear as his Slug Rifle cocked.
"D-don't kill us, please!" One of them pleaded. The other broke down, wailing and shaking. "Emperor protect…" Corrin growled and slowly eased the trigger down. The pleading man fell in a flash. The rifle's nozzle pointed at the disheveled wreck that was the other man.
"Don't, don't make another move." A cold voice muttered in his ear as he felt the steel of a bolter pressing to his head. "I have you Merican. Drop your weapon, and I shall take your life the honorable way." Corrin didn't move. "I have you!"
"You speak to soon…Imperial." Someone else said. Corrin spun in confusion. With a bang, the Imperial fell into a pool of blood. Corrin lunged for the figure behind him and began to pound at him with his fists. "Corrin…Dammit!" Corrin stopped. Jasper lay below him, a look of exasperation burning on his face.
"Sorry…" With the coming of the rage, Corrin had felt a loss of common sense and problem solving. It was always shoot first, ask questions later for him now.
"Yeah, sure." Jasper smiled as Corrin offered him his hand. He took it and pulled himself up. Corrin cocked his head.
"Find anyone else yet?" He asked. Jasper shook his head in a solemn no. "Right, I suppose we move."
"Do you know where we are?" Jasper asked tentatively. Corrin was silent. "Oh come on! How are we gunna find Glory?" Corrin closed his eyes and pointed to the sky. A great pillar of smoke rose, miles away.
"That way." He said flatly. Jasper gaped in awe at the symbol of desolation that was the smoke. "Don't worry, the city of Glory hasn't fallen yet. I know it."
Jasper nodded, "Yeah, just like Mericans to fight on in the face of certain defeat."
"No!" Corrin's voice was booming, massive. It carried across the deep forest and through the shaded valleys beyond. "Merica…will not fall." He whispered, breathing heavily. Jasper seemed almost frightened.
"We make for Glory, now." Corrin sighed.
"Yeah…" Jasper shrugged. "We'd best go now…" They shared the link, and, as one, set off into the forest. They walked in silence for several moments. It was, of course, broken. "Corrin…what do you think will happen to Merica?" Corrin walked on quietly.
Finally, he opened his mouth. "I think we will fight. I think we will go on to the end. No nation lives for ever. Even one day, the Empire of this…Emperor will be beset on all sides. People will not follow him forever. There will be treachery; great treachery. No, his kingdom will fall…as will Merica some day."
Jasper nodded. "But not this day." Corrin shook his head.
"No, we'll fight. We'll thrown these damned Imperials back to whatever hellscape spat 'um up ." Corrin laughed. He had sounded like Johnson.
"Corrin…? Frak! Get down!" Jasper cried. They had strayed into the open. Jasper threw his body over Corrin's and they plunged to the ground. The earth behind them exploded into a huge cyclone of dirt and fire.
"Damn, they've zeroed us!" Corrin cursed. More explosions ensued as the two men stood and began to dash across the open land. More and more blasts ensued.
"They're there! Crin scum!" Someone called from the forest. Las blasts exploded from the left. Corrin grunted as the Furor took some of the pain from his hit arm.
"They're everywhere." Jasper wheezed. They had been sprinting as fast as they could for hundreds of feet, and they were tired. Corrin flung his arm around Jasper, using his superior adrenaline to push them through.
"Come one, just a little further…" Corrin muttered. They broke the forest line and collapsed into the underbrush. "Don't…make…a move…" He ordered flatly. They heard crunching as the Imperial Soldiers moved through the greenery.
"Where are they?" called one.
"Not here sir…" said someone else.
"They couldn't have gone left; we'd have cut 'um off. They must have headed right. Fan out right! Find them!" The first man roared.
They sat in the bushes for minutes, minutes that seemed like hours. Corrin felt days had past before he finally dragged himself up. The Imperials were gone. His arm ached in pain as blood flowed smoothly down the skin.
He heaved Jasper up, and the two limped on. They would not stop for injury or fatigue. They had to make their way to Glory, and get there before the Imperials.
"I know these woods…" Jasper stammered. "Here, it ends here…" And so they broke the forest, emerging on a small plateau. "And below…" Jasper continued. Corrin was oblivious to him, his eyes wide in complete and total awe. "The highway of Glory…" Noticing Corrin was ignoring him, he looked as well. With a cough, he barely withheld a scream.
Below, one the massive highway of Glory, billions marched. All were Imperial. Their armor, a golden yellow, reflected in the sunlight as they called chants of war. They marched in perfect unison, followed by great siege engines. Batteries of artillery rolled across the ground en masse.
Jasper pointed, speechless, as the ground shook. Corrin turned. "No…" The sight before him was the most disheartening. Rank upon rank of Astarte marched on after the Soldiers. Their bolt guns were erect perfectly in the giants' arms.
Looking up, Corrin saw what Jasper had seen. And enormous machine, a terrible construction of destruction; It was a Martian Titan. The Imperials had stolen one, or, the Martians had taken the Emperor's side. Corrin did not know, or care. The Titan marched for Glory, and its massive guns seemed to ensure the great cities destruction. Its enormous head swiveled slightly.
"Down." Corrin spat. Both men did so immediately. It turned back, but they remained down. The army continued to march by, the march to doom. "We have to get to Glory." Corrin pleaded. Jasper sat, still entranced, "Now!" His partner nodded. They stood, and made for Glory.