Church's Crusade #22: Sundering

Church's belt with his knife and sabre landed in the dirt with a thump. Church continued to watch Rieke. The commander smiled, "We are going to do a little test. You against the Devastators. I want to know which is better, artificial intelligence, or a man who is already dead. So pick up your weapons and we can begin…"

Anna checked the approaches to the base for the third time in as many minutes. She looked over at tucker who was leaning idly against the wall of the base, "Something's wrong. Church should have been back by now."

Tucker shrugged, "Don't worry about it. Church can take care of himself. He isn't the sort to go dying on us without any warning." Tucker paused at this point, thinking about his statement, "Well…you know what I mean."

Anna laughed bitterly, "Oh yes, I know,' she looked out at the canyon around her and sighed, 'Do you ever wonder what Church might have been like in normal circumstances, you know, if he hadn't died?"

"Not really,' said Tucker, 'Believe it or not, from what I've seen Church's death has always been a sort of secondary loss to him. I couldn't say for sure because I didn't know him back then, but I'd say that the Church we know came into being the moment Tex joined the Freelancers. Before then he was probably quite happy and cheerful. She was the centre piece of his world. Then he loses Tex when she goes to join the Freelancers. He thinks that there might still be some hope so he signs up and joins the Blue army. But then Tex gets landed with O'Mally and he loses her all over again."

Anna grimaced, "Poor Church. He never told me or the guys this side of it."

"It gets worse. He comes here and everything is fine for a while, then this rookie shows up and goes and blows him up. And as if death wasn't depressing enough, Tex comes along with O'Mally still sitting in her head and takes his place, at which point she also dies. So he thinks he's lost her again until she shows up as a ghost and then he almost becomes happy again,' Tucker smirked, 'I doubt he mentioned it but I walked in on them a few times when they were alone. You could have cut the robotic sexual tension with a knife."

"So there was actually something happening with them again?"

"Weeeell you see I can't really be sure. I never caught them actually doing anything. But as I was saying, Church has been on an emotional roller coaster for a long time now. And then he just sort of…crashed when the ship got blown up. I was a little cut up about it as well, but I have my own ways of dealing with it. Church though, he bottles it up, and when he bottles it up it begins to eat at him and he turns mean."

"Oh come on. Church isn't mean. He's one of the best men I've ever served with. He's always looking out for us."

Tucker looked at her and sighed, "That's a part of it. Think back over the time you served with him. How many people has he killed, and how often has he done it while protecting you and the squad?"

"Well of course he tries to…,' Anna stopped and frowned, 'What are you saying?"

"What I'm trying to say is that he goes out of his way to protect you guys. He see's you as a chance for him to make up for not properly protecting Tex. I'm just worried that in the end he might end up somewhere he can't come back from."

Anna shivered despite the heating system in her armour as she thought about what Tucker had said.

"Tucker?"

"Yes?"

"You're a lot smarter than you make out aren't you?"

Tucker nodded then grinned, "Yea, but don't tell anyone okay. It doesn't fit with my character…"

Commander Arkturo looked out at the enemy positions from his hiding place. He hoped that the man known as Church was right. If not then he was likely preparing to march his men to a mass suicide. Still Church had given him a chance to wipe out the entire enemy force. It wasn't an opportunity you were given every day and he was determined to take it. Arkturo smirked to himself as he thought of it, finally eliminating that prat Rieke. And then there was Church himself. A useful person no doubt, but also very dangerous, even on his own. He would have to be dealt with before this could truly be called a victory. Smiling to himself, Arkturo turned and began to scrutinize the enemy positions again…

Church leaned down and picked up his belt. Lifting it out of the dirt, he turned and looked at Rieke, "So what are the stakes? If your…boys win then I'm destroyed. But what if they lose?"

Rieke spread his hands helplessly, "Why sergeant, you have me at a loss. Well I guess seeing as we have no special way to kill you planned, we will just have to resort to the more traditional methods. I have always found sticky grenades particularly appealing."

"So what you're saying is that I lose either way?"

"More or less yes,' said Rieke, 'Oh don't act so surprised sergeant. You didn't really expect me to let you out of here just like that did you?" Rieke laughed, a harsh, cold sounding bark.

Church sighed, "I guess there is no other way to settle this then." He began to buckle on his belt, keeping his hand near the handle of his knife all the while. As soon as the belt was done up the devastators drew short metal batons from compartments in their legs they each flicked a switch on the batons and they extended to become sturdy, seven foot staves, whose ends crackled with elctro-magnetic energy. Church understood that these must have been the weapons that they used to capture him. He watched carefully as they divided carefully and began to move so that at any one time, there was at least one he couldn't see. He turned carefully, watching them with both his eyes and his motion sensors. His hand hovered over the handle of his knife. He sensed one of them moving carefully up behind him and dropped his hand to slowly draw the knife. As if this was a trigger, the one moving behind him began a sudden rush, with the staff raised over it's head. In a single movement Church spun on his heel and brought the knife up to meet the attack…

Sarge looked at Simmons, "Are all the explosives set?"

"Yes, sir. And once the first lot are detonated it should set off the others as well. At least it will if my calculations are correct."

Sarge looked up at the massive pillars rising overhead before turning to his team, "Ladies, gentlemen…Grif, the enemy is massing above us as we speak. As soon as we get the signal from the blues we will detonate the explosives and bring down the cavern. Any questions?"

"Me Sarge,' said Donut, 'What if one of the blues is caught in the danger zone when we detonate?"

"Then god rest their treacherous blue souls…preferably somewhere in Hell. Okay. We know our job. Lets get in position and wait for the signal…"

Church spun about and caught one of the robots weapons as it leapt through the air to try and catch him unaware. Gripping the weapon one handed, he began to pivot about, swinging his opponent about before letting him go to fly into two other Devastators. He then turned…just in time for the blow that had been meant for the back of his head to miss and hit him in the arm. He felt the arm become a limp deadweight and hurled his knife as a retaliatory gesture. The blade smashed through his opponents visor and into his head. Church gave a shout of triumph, which died in his throat as quickly as it had started. He watched in astonishment as small machines began to hover around the robots head, repairing the damage done by the knife. The Devastator reached up and pulled the knife from it's head and, even as the machines repaired the break in it's visor, hurled it at Church. Church spun, but not fast enough to avoid the blade driving into his left shoulder. He rocked back and fell with a thud into the dirt before wrenching the blade from his shoulder and rolling just as a staff swung at the place he had just been. He came to his feet, knife in one hand and looked at the four opponents coming towards him. Whether he liked it or not, the knife wasn't enough any more. Switching his knife to his left hand, he reached down to his belt and drew the sabre from its sheath…

Anna looked out over the canyon again, towards the rise which she knew hid the enemy camp. She knew she shouldn't, but Church's continued absence made her uneasy. Where was he? He should have been back hours ago. Even Tucker seemed a little worried about the disappearance.

Finally she couldn't wait any longer. She stood and walked over to Tucker, "I'm going to go look for Church, no matter what you say." She stared at him defiantly.

Tucker stared back for a moment then shrugged, "Alright, just let me get my gun."

Anna was caught off guard by this, "What?"

"I have to agree with you now. Church should have been back by now. And if someone out there has managed to get Church, then we really shouldn't be out on our own. So I'm going with you. Now where did I put my rifle?"

Anna slumped a little after this, then straightened again to look at Tucker, "Alright. I guess that makes sense. Just let me know when you are ready…"

A few minutes later Tucker and Anna were outside the base and slipping off to the enemy camp. They slipped up to the top of a rise and took up a position among the rocks and trees there. As Anna took off her pack and began to assemble her sniper-rifle, Tucker looked out at the enemy base. He frowned and looked at Anna, "There looks like there is some sort of fight happening in the middle of the camp, but I can't see for sure."

Anna picked up her rifle and began to scope the base, looking for the fight Tucker had mentioned. When she found it, the colour drained from her face.

"Oh no…"

A fist connected with Church's chin, picking him up and throwing him off his feet. He landed in the dirt, his sabre sliding away from him. Looking at his opponent, he raised the knife just in time to block a downward blow, slowly forcing the blade to the side. Just as he was about to push the blade the last few inches and offer a riposte, the robot standing over him gave a quick twist of his weapon and sent Church's knife flying from his hand and skittering across the dirt. Church's rolled as another downward blow almost broke in his skull, coming to his feet with his sabre in hand once more. Pressing the button, he watched as the cobalt blue off superheated plasma covered the edge of the blade, then stepped into the attack. His blade flew forward, meeting the attack of the Devastator on the electrified head of his staff. They traded blows like this for several seconds, all the while watching the other Devastators edging around. Church monitored them with his sensors, waiting for them to step forward to the attack. When one finally did he waited till the last possible instant, then leapt to the side. He heard the satisfying crackle as the attacking robot's attack hit his comrade squarely in the chest, then came out of his role in time to duck under the attack of another Devastator. Bringing his sabre upwards, he sheared through the robot's arm at the shoulder and caught the falling staff weapon. He then spun and drove the head of the staff into the gap where the arm had been and watched as the E.M. charge took hold, quickly frying his opponents circuits. He turned to the surviving Devstators.

"Whose next…"

Arkturo looked at his watch, watched as it clicked over to the allotted time, listened to the alarm beep into life. He turned to his second in command, "It's time. Tell the men. In two minutes we attack…

Church spun and blocked another attack, then kicked his opponent backwards and stepped towards another. He launched into a dizzying series of attacks which his opponent barely blocked. Then he moved into a final series of attacks which ended in him striking the Devastator's head from it's shoulders. Before the machines could reattach it he plunged his hand down through the neck and smashed a hole in the robot's reactor, destabilising it. A steady whining began, rising in pitch till it reached a screech. Church gripped the body then whirled and hurled it at another Devastator. The body exploded on impact, destroying itself and the other robot. Smiling grimly, Church turned to see the final Devastator rushing towards him. Church stood calmly, setting himself for the attack. As his enemy raised his weapon to strike, Church struck upwards severing the shaft of the weapon, before reversing it, cutting downward, splitting the machine from head to groin. He kicked the body away as the reactor began to screech and stepped back when it exploded. As the dust settled he turned to look at Rieke.

"They failed."

Rieke looked shocked for a moment before regaining control, "So what if they couldn't kill you. We'll still do it somehow." He raised his hand. Twenty soldiers stepped forward with rifles raised.

Rieke smiled coldly at Church, "Ready arms!' the soldiers checked their weapons, 'Aim!' all the soldiers trained their weapons on Church. Rieke raised his arm, ready to give the signal. His arm was about to drop when a soldier ran up, "Sir! Sir!"

Rieke turned and glared at him, "What?"

"There's been an attack on our western line. There's hundreds of them!..."

Anna looked out at the mayhem as Arkturo's force smashed into the camp. She turned to Tucker, "That's it. Give Sarge the signal."

"What about Church?"

"He can handle this. But this could be our only chance. So call Sarge."

Tucker nodded, then his radio crackled to life, "Sarge? The enemy is in position. You can start whenever you're ready…"

"Roger that Tucker, will begin presently,' Sarge turned to the others standing in the mouth of the tunnel, 'Okay everyone this is it. When that thing blows I want to be one-hundred miles away. Got it?"

The reds nodded.

"Okay. Donut, initiate Special Plan No. 24."

"Right sir." Donut pulled out his pistol and turned to Grif, shooting him in the leg. As Grif fell to the ground, whimpering in pain, Donut triggered a grenade and threw it across the cavern to land in the pile of explosives. As the reds turned and ran, or limped up the passage, the grenade detonated, starting a chain reaction of explosions that sent rockets into the other piles, starting explosions in them as well, destroying the bases of the pillars. As the weight from the rock pulling down began to take hold, cracks spider-webbed across the ceiling…

Church stumbled as the first shockwave hit then stood quickly and looked around. Everyone was falling over and stumbling about. Church looked about, saw the cracks appearing in the ground, saw a gap in the panicking soldiers. He ran, ran as fast as he could, felt the ground falling away beneath him, leapt…and caught hold of the edge of the cliff that had formed before him. Hanging there one handed he listened to the screams of the men falling to their deaths. When the noises had died away at last, he hazarded a look around…and got a terrible shock. Hanging just a few feet away from him, hand gripping tightly to the root of a tree, was Commander Gunther Rieke. Rieke turned and saw Church. A look of extreme rage clouded his face and his hand flew to the holster of his pistol. He raised it and fired at Church repeatedly. Church felt the bullets biting into his armour, endured it until Rieke emptied his magazine, then raised his Sabre. Rieke stared at him in horror as Church took careful aim and fired. The bolt of focussed plasma severed the root and Rieke fell screaming to the rocks below. Church hung their for a moment, then felt hands grasping his wrist, pulling him up. At last he stood, leaning over and looking out over the devastation. "That's it,' he said, 'It's over…"

Several weeks passed after that. However it was different from any period in the canyon that Church could remember. There was no fighting, though Church suspected that this was due more to the fact that Sarge hadn't found a way across the gap yet. But other things were different too. Without Grif's constant visits Tucker and Sister seemed to be slipping off more and more regularly. There also seemed to be something between Anna and Caboose, though this just seemed to involve the pair of them walking about holding each other's hands. And Doc was taking a proper medical course by email. Yes everything seemed to be working out for the best.

One day, when Church was standing on top of the base and looking out at the canyon, Tucker came over and joined him. They were silent for a time, then Tucker cleared his throat, "It's hard to believe it's over isn't it?"

Church nodded, "Yea, yea it is."

"You going to be okay?"

Church thought about this for a time then smiled, "You know what, I think I'm going to be just fine…"

The characters Church, Caboose, Tucker, Simmons, Sarge, Grif, Sister, Donut and Doc are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions.