Chapter 13: War Bells Ring

Tick, tock, tick, tock, the time was one minute before midnight. Aria waited patiently for the day to end and with it the time limit she bestowed upon the nation. Every attempt the government tried to initiate peace talks had been shut down. There was only either their way or war. It seems that they truly had failed to grasp the severity of the situation. Aria sat surrounded by several white lights creating a nice contrast of shadows and brightness. She looked to her right at the computer screens that fed her constant updates about her troops and their positions via their transmitters attached to their armor.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Aria eyed the watch with a sigh. It looks like they have made their choice. She motioned for her subordinates to prepare the live video transmission for her soldiers. With a strong posture, a straight back and a confident walk, she took her place by the podium on a makeshift stage. The cameras rolled and she gripped the sides of the podium. The light on the camera activated and it began transmitting. She took in a deep breath, and relaxed. "I speak now directly to you, my fellow soldiers, and loyal Cradle of Hope members. The time has come. We gave this nation a chance to surrender and do things without risking their own citizens, but it seems that they are unwilling to surrender their power to us. The bells of war have been ringing louder than ever before in recent times and tonight it rings the loudest."

Cradle of Hope soldiers all spread out across the nation of USA watch in anticipation. Aria pointed towards the camera as her voice went grim. "Now we must wage war and unfortunately risk not only our lives, but the lives of the people of this nation. I personally would have liked to avoid the conflict, but if they want a fight, then we will give them one that they will remember for generations to come."

Aria closed her eyes for a moment and looked down at the podium. She raised her head and spoke in a more neutral voice. "Remember, you are all going to be a part of something grand, something we have all been working towards ever since the conception of this organization. Our names will go down in history as revolutionaries that changed this world for the better. We will be criticized, and shunned. But no revolutionary is without their fair share of critics or haters."

The pilots handling the plane carriers containing the nuclear bombs prepared for takeoff. The lights on the takeoff pad turned from a blinking orange to a solid green giving them the go. They slowly tilted the joy stick backwards as they increased speed to the thrusters. The Pelicans lifted off into the air. The soldiers on ground gave a salute to wish them the best and prepared to join the others. The planes stabilized themselves and the pilots wished one another luck. They all broke off into the direction of their assigned regions and countries.

"We are in this till the end. We have come too far to be deterred so easily now. We have our trump card up our sleeves, so know that we will fight to our last breathe and succeed!" Aria lifted her arm in solidarity as did the rest. "Now go out there and make this world realize just what a mistake it was to cross paths with us!"

The generals walked through the huge crowd of soldiers and handpicked a select few to join their squads. Dallas coordinated the operation as he told the others to hurry. He studied the results of their efforts and motioned for them all to move out to their respective positions. Aria stepped away from the podium and hinted for one of her soldiers to come closer. "Tell our informants to play the R-001 pre-recorded message we sent to them two days ago for the masses."

"Yes ma'am."

"This just in folks," the newscaster announced gathering the attention of everyone near a TV screen. Many stopped in their tracks to notice the breaking alert red bar below the news caster quickly wide eyed. "We have a message from the terrorist organization Cradle of Hope, the same people responsible for the countless bombings and deaths in the wake of their activities. We will now play the message in its entirety."

"This is a message to the people of Earth. My name is Aria. I'm the leader of Cradle of Hope. You are hearing this message right now because our offer for a peaceful solution to help change the world was rejected. We offered a chance at redemption for the human race from its vices, and instead of seizing the opportunity, the American government chose to waste time with meaningless peace talks. There were only two ways, our way which would have entailed far less risk for the world, or war. The government chose not to bend over, but due to the American people's actions in the past and the level of demilitarization, they have left themselves open to easy attacks as proven by us on several occasions."

The citizens began to get concerned at the grim tone of this message as well as the regret induced words used by her. "Now that we are at this point, you will all witness a grand revolution take place to put humanity on the path where it may finally be free of its vices. We will march the streets, take them by force and as long as no one interferes, your safety will be guaranteed. This is to the government, it's affiliated organizations and the militaries around the world. If you think to interfere, I would urge you to reconsider. In the air right now are eight Pelicans carrying nuclear bombs. If you choose to resist us through force, we will not hesitate to activate the bombs one by one over densely populated areas. All we ask is for your cooperation in surrender."

The various government councils around the world slammed their fists against their tables and cursed in fury. They cursed their fate as their hands were tied behind their backs. Especially the American government that understood how no matter what they would do, they still lose. If they do something to combat Cradle of Hope, they risk the bombs exploding and risking the safety of other nations. But the long term consequences would entail the destabilization of the world's political balance as well as trust in the United States of America. But if they do nothing, then they could be seen as aiding the terrorists. No matter what they did, they would lose. They have not just one, but both hands tied behind their backs.

"Humans have struggled with their primal sins for far too long. It is time for us to walk a proper path, it is time for us to evolve," Aria pointed at the screen and towards the audience. "And that begins when all of you give up the political as well as military power to us. There is nothing else you can do to save yourselves but surrender. The UNSC will not help you due to the many treaties and agreements signed by the various nations that keep their military strength out of Earth."

The UNSC officers just outside of Earth watched in anxiety. Many gripped their hands together praying for the safety of their friends and family. They all felt distraught, for all the power their military training gave them, it was useless in their most vital moment. Aria crossed her arms and nodded her head. "We were kind enough to give America a time limit. But it seems that democracy, and freedom is far more important to the Americans. This is the consequence of that choice. Know this, once we are done with the takeover of America, we will be coming after the other nations. We will not be stopped, we are determined and we will reform the human race."

As the screen went black, panic broke out onto the streets. The citizens all scattered nearly bumping into one another. Their screams filled the ears of others with terror. They all pushed past one another like wild animals trying to get to safety, even trampling a few along the way. Siris watched the madness caused by the message and whispered. "This is insane."

Is this how you imagined your revolution beginning sister? Alex pondered as he noticed Siris approaching their own small army. He crossed his arms and nodded his head. "So, this is going to be an uphill battle. We have a few troops in other states, but nothing like what they have. It seems that the plan to rely on the reds and the blues hasn't panned out as we had hoped."

"They will be here," Carolina defended her friends and family firmly planting her foot on the ground. Siris knew better than to argue this point. "But right now we have to do what we can with the numbers we have. I want everyone to break up into squads coordinated by a squad leader who will always report to me. Remember to be well hidden so that it's easier to get the jump on them. The element of surprise is our greatest weapon right now."

"Yes sir!"

They all broke off with only Alex, Chloe and Carolina remaining behind. The young assassin approached Siris and spoke with reassurance. "We will hunt down Aria."

"Are you sure?"

"I declared her an enemy the night I escaped from her captivity," Alex spoke firm in his belief. "There is no going back, only forward."

Siris patted Alex's back in understanding and a hint of proud feelings. "Don't hesitate to rely on us if things go south."

Alex departed with the two women. Siris opened the back of the ATSG van and started up the computer. He noticed the live feedback from the ATSG soldiers and guided a few squads he felt were poorly hidden. As the ATSG troops ran through the streets in the shadows, they noticed almost every window shutter to be closed and most likely locked. The citizens no doubt hid with the hopes that this was all a bad dream, and that it will go away if they closed their shutters.

The ATSG soldiers ran up into various buildings and took their positions. Each squad consisted of at least one sniper, heavy weapons and light weapons user. The snipers took the job of the recon to keep the rest of the squads informed. The streets were almost as empty as a ghost town. Silence awaited them for now until their enemies no doubt neared. But this silence was quickly broken by a sharp, loud and piercing noise of the city wide alarms. This really is war, thought many as they heard the war emergency alarms. No one in this nation thought they would ever hear such alarms in their lifetime. Emergency protocols enacted throughout the city, barricades arose to block off the roads. The bridges raised in the air to disconnect one part of the city from another. The traffic lights shut off. The power to the cities is slowly, grid by grid cut off to create complete darkness, only mildly suppressed by the moonlight. The citizens inside their homes and other buildings looked outside with curiosity, but as they saw just how abandoned their city looked on the roads, fear settled in real quick. Many took to praying for their survival. Survival may spell victory for them after all.

"Ma'am, we have a problem," one of Aria's many soldiers stated as they stopped just a few inches from her desk. They caught their breath and displayed multiple images of the city from a street level. "It seems that they have activated the emergency status throughout the nation."

"That is of no concern to me," Aria leaned forward exerting a dominant force over him. "Instead, continue to focus on moving forward with the plans."

Dallas motioned for the children to finish stacking the goods of ammo, guns, explosives and extra armor. He quickly requested a report from the other generals and conveyed the information to Aria. "We are all in position now."

"Yeah," Kabira scoffed clearly annoyed. "And Kai is a bastard for hogging the front line position. I was really looking forward to it."

"Hey, it was first come first serve," Kai replied with a smug face. "By the way, you shouldn't expect much in the way of resistance as I will be wiping the floor with them."

Kabira felt even greater contempt for him now. "I swear to god that when this is over, I'm so kicking your ass Kai."

"Oh a one v one," Kai was amused by the thought. "That sounds interesting. I will be looking forward to it."

Kabira heard a loud yawn much to her annoyance. Irene stretched her arms and released another heavy and loud yawn. "No one v one, it's too much work. I wish I could sit down."

"We took away your seat for a reason Irene," Kabira explained crossing her arms and legs. "It was so that you don't fall asleep so easily. I know that if you sat down, you will be asleep within a couple of seconds."

"That's not true!"

Everyone waited patiently, as if expecting something more. Irene's voice quickly went from the confident woman to slightly unsure. "I mean that's mostly not true…"

The others still waited patiently. The silence got to her and she finally cracked. "Okay that is so totally true!"

"Quit wasting time with idle chatter guys," Dallas interjected feeling his brain turn to mush from this back and forth talk. "You all know what our job is. Make sure to keep the casualties to a minimum. Our troops trust us and have put their lives in our hands. We must repay that trust with keeping them alive."

The other generals all agreed in unison and waited with crossed arms for the first sign of trouble.

Small tremors of fear spread through the streets aggressively. The citizens who peered out their windows quickly retreated upon the notice of authoritative stares of the marching soldiers from Cradle of Hope. Nationwide citizens remained paralyzed by fear and a single thought of where could the protectors of their streets possibly be. But little did they know that the cops were equally frightened and frustrated. Frightened not of the terrorists, but of the bureaucracy that kept them from doing their job, and how deeply it infected their justice system. The cops raised their fists in the air, let their voices crowd the commissioner's ears, and their anger pierce his mind like a thousand needles. The commissioner raised his arms in an attempt to silence the many, but he was only one man against several. "I implore all of you to please calm down!"

They still rattled on until finally the commissioner raised his voice. "Quiet, all of you!"

The room went silent. Only a few coughs were audible. The commissioner breathed in an effort to calm himself and said. "You all saw the message about the bombs. We can't risk any government employees getting close with the intention of starting a conflict. Just imagine what the aftermath of a nuclear explosion would be like, the cries, hatred and anger of the people who would blame us for interfering and causing the explosion?"

"They are probably just going to blow up the bomb anyways!" shouted one officer. Others agreed and pointed to the commissioner in a retort. "So would you just prefer to sit here and die bending over the table for them or actually do something about it?"

"We will do what we can," answered the commissioner in a calm voice even amidst the slightly disrespectful remarks. "We will take action when the time is right. You have my word on that."

Many officers were not convinced judging by the number of times the government has accommodated the terrorist threats. The ATSG snipers scanned their areas and froze in place until they saw the first sign of their targets. The snipers all activated their radios and sent out an army wide message. "Trouble is here. The enemy is here."

"What is their formation like?" Siris inquired, and every sniper responded in a similar manner. "They are marching in a standard march formation. Nothing special about it, what should we do?"

This must a demonstration of their power to the general populace through numbers. Siris pondered and transmitted the following orders. "Open fire at their feet as warning shots. If they don't stand down, kill them. Use silenced pistols to make the warning shots. We don't want our positions being given away."

Pffth! Pffth! Pffth!

Multiple shots exited the barrel and landed at the road in front of the soldiers. The line at the very front stoped prompting the others to halt and look ahead in wonder. The soldiers at their front look wide eyed at the holes, and in the holes they could somewhat make out the shell casing of the bullet thanks to the moonlight. They all drew their weapons and shouted to those in the back. "Enemy has opened fire!"

All of them dispersed to the cover they saw fit to be serving their needs. Many of them raised their weapons out from it to scan the area above them. The ATSG snipers shook their heads calling them fools and motioned for their squad mates to get a shot at the enemy. The snipers and the rest attached silencers to their guns and opened fire gunning down several Cradle of Hope soldiers. They opened fire at random hoping to hit the silenced death that seemed to be falling upon them all one by one. But rather quickly, quicker than any ATSG soldier anticipated, the enemy begun learning the general area of their location. All gun fire was quickly redirected to those areas. The snipers hid back behind cover and through hand signs, they signaled for their allies to no longer worry about being silent. The silencers were off, the heavy weapons were out and it was time to get to work. It soon became a firefight, war finally broke out in the streets and the general populace lied in their bedrooms, underneath the sheets terrified, or holding their family and friends close. The echoes sent shivers of fear throughout their minds, and each bullet that was fired leaving a scar on the city felt like an injury to the populace by extension. This was their home, and now their home was at the mercy of war.

"Ma'am," one of Aria's chosen guards stood with a salute and a nervous face. He wished not to be the bearer of bad news in front of her. "We have a problem. The front line march has just been engaged."

"Is it the government?"

"No, we believe it's the enemy organization that has always stood in our way so far."

"Then," Aria licked her lips. That means he will come. "Relay a message to every troop out there. The enemy currently being engaged are to be considered a very dangerous and a hostile entity, and their elimination is necessary to give birth to Earth once again. Our revolution can never be complete without their demise."

She slowly reached or her desk drawer and took out a family photo. The soldier waited patiently studying the slowly neutral face turn to contempt. On a whim she made the choice and said. "Also tell the generals that no one but me can kill the young assassin known as Alex. They will know what I'm talking about."

Aria clicked a few keys on her computer and sent a digital copy of the picture to every general. "Hurry with the orders."

"Right," the soldier quickly relayed the orders on his end and just as Aria predicted, she was met with resistance from Dallas. He was both shocked and worried at what could have made Aria make such a decision. "You are thinking too much with emotions rather than common sense. This is far too dangerous for you."

"Dallas, no matter what you say, he is my kill. I made a promise to kill him with my own hands, and I intend to do just that."

Dallas continued his protests. However Aria was quick with the firm decision and stated her orders were final. "My word is my will and you will follow it without question! Do not forget who gave you this opportunity Dallas. You can fight like this because of me. Worry about not me but yourself. I will always fight with the best interest of the world first."

"F…fine," Dallas reluctantly bowed his head in defeat. "Did you guys hear that?"

The other generals confirmed. Dallas once again repeated the orders to ensure it was heard by all. "Do not kill Alex, allow him to pass through."

Three pairs of feet rush through the thin, small back alleys. They turn corners from left to right amidst the ensuing chaos. Their sense heightened with every gunshot fired by the two sides. Alex who led the team of three remained on full alert. He motioned for the team to stop, and he stealthily studied the street this alley was going to lead them out to. He looked at the gun casing, bullets and shrapnel spread out sparsely on the streets. Dead bodies were evident, easily noticeable by the smell. Alex motioned for the two ladies to follow. As they crossed the streets doing their best to stick to the shadows, he asked for Church to update them on their route.

"Give me a second here," Church gathered real-time data as fast as he could dependant on the wireless connection to the various satellites over America. "There you go. I don't detect any enemies on our path right now, so we should be good for a while."

"Define while," Chloe spoke, and Church simply shook his shoulders in response before disappearing back into rest mode. As the group continued, Chloe made it a point to note to Alex about his idea of taking the back streets. "This back route was probably the best decision. We have come upon no resistance so far, and it's been a smooth ride."

"Oh damn it," Carolina scoffed. "Now you jinxed us."

"Uh so about that jinxing guys…," Church appeared once again with a not so optimistic voice. "I uh, I'm picking up enemy readings three blocks down from us now in every direction."

"Oh I hate my mouth right now," Chloe complained with Alex adding salt to injury. "Happens every damn time, doesn't it?"

"I guess they were saving up," Carolina spoke thinking of a plan just like the rest for their eventual encounter.

The ATSG soldiers held their own against Cradle of Hope amidst the large numbers. The snipers who now retreated from the front lines and instead began acting as support radioed into Siris for a status update. "Sir, we have a couple injured so far but we are managing to suppress the enemy even with our low numbers."

"Good, but be sure not to take this organization lightly," Siris announced studying the laptop for his soldiers' positions. The resistance seems heaviest in the north part of downtown. "The enemy soldiers are spread nationwide, if we defeat their leader here, the whole organization is at the risk of falling apart from a collapse in chain of command. Keep your heads on tight and remain sharp."

I can't change the placements. Siris rested is chin in his hand and considered every possibility he could conceive. Doing so risks the other sectors being taken over more easily. The radio static shook him out of his thoughts as the snipers he recently talked with once again called much to his curiosity. The once calm voices now sounded distressed. Siris held up the transmitter close to his mouth and asked. "What is it, what's wrong?!"

"Sir, we have trouble!"

Siris heard the many screams in the background. It was almost as if they were getting massacred. What is going on out there? Siris held up the transmitter close again and demanded answers. The words to follow however left him in complete shock. "Sir, they suddenly had several trucks full of soldiers pull up to support their front lines!"

The ATSG soldiers found themselves now on the defensive. The momentum of the battle changed in the blink of an eye. Heavily armored men exited the vehicle, and each carried a machine gun with a certain aura of intimidation to them. The armored men opened fire on the known positions of the ATSG soldiers, and without hesitance they were mowed down like lambs for slaughter. The heavy weapons wielders of the ATSG squads take out their RPG rockets. With a stable and precise aim they opened fire a well placed shot. The ensuing explosion caused the surrounding enemy soldiers to blast away, but their targets stood almost unscathed. The heavy weapons users all backed away with mouths dropped open. "H- How could they survive a RPG rocket blast?"

The usage of rockets however was an error in their judgement. They had left a clear cut trail of smoke that led back to their position. The heavily armored men opened fire shooting through the wall and impaling several targets. The normal enemy soldiers opened fire to support their own heavy weapons users. Sounds cut out from Siris' radio. He shouted in the transmitter hoping to receive some sort of response. But there was nothing, it was all silence. He called the other squad leaders. "Someone please respond, anybody!"

"This is…squad leader Omega…situation…bad," Siris eyed the receiver with relief, but worry due to bad reception. "Please repeat that, I didn't get your last report. You are cutting out."

"I repeat…situation…need…respond…"

This is no good. Siris threw down the transmitter towards the back of the van in frustration. He reached for the weapons compartment below the seats and retrieved an array of weapons. I didn't think I would be going out in the field. He tested the sniper rifle, loaded in a new clip and cleaned the sights. He rested the rifle against his back. Siris reached towards a semi-automatic pistol as well as an assault rifle. He made sure to load up on a few grenades for good measure and closed the vehicle. Siris with a brave face ran towards the battlefield holding the assault rifle. "This should be fun…I hope."

A/N: So war has begun, look forward to more action set pieces now. Also, you may have noticed that in terms of word count, this was a shorter chapter than usual. Expect more of that as it will mainly be action now with some drama in between. So folks, I'm now taking all bets. Who do you think is going to die in this war if any?

Constructive feedback is always welcomed.

Thank you for taking the time to read and support the story, I appreciate it!

~ Monty