Chapter 14: Devastation

Siris stepped through the rubble, ran up to the edge of a building and reached behind him to the dangling spherical objects. He unpinned them from his belt and threw them out in a shower of death. The grenades clinked and clanged as they landed in the enemy territory. The Cradle of Hope soldiers all looked terrified at the little ball containing so much power of destruction.

Boom!

The fire embers rose in the air as bodies flung to the sides of the explosion. The black smoke cleared and several bodies lied dead amidst the exchange of gunfire. Siris took out his sniper rifle and shot down many enemy soldiers. He was quick and smart. He constantly kept on the move so that they would not be able to track his exact location. Any time a situation seemed hairy he held nothing back and let the enemy get a taste of what he considered hell. Mowing down a whole small sized squadron from the shadows, Siris joined up with the nearest ATSG soldier squad. "What's the status here?"

"We are barely holding them sir," the squad leader answered ducking for cover. He pushed his back against the wall with eyes terrified like he had seen a ghost. Siris gripped the man's shoulder tightly and shook him out of his cowardice trance. "We will hold them off, we can hold them off!"

Siris took out his sniper rifle and activated the motion tracker attached to the side. Three targets are closing in our location from the front. Three people are not an issue, but they are spread out. Siris motioned to two soldiers to his left and right using the silent communication language of hand signs and got into position. Their plan was ready, and Siris took the lead. Siris stuck his head out and shot the one in the middle. His two comrades opened fire at the other two just as they were about to focus their fire on the ATSG leader. Siris gave both of them a thumb up and helped the squad leader up. "Alright, everyone in this squad will focus on holding this sector. That is the primary objective, but secondary is to push them back."

"Yes sir!"

A huge firefight broke out yet again after a brief respite. The two warring sides seemed to be at a stalemate. But thanks to Siris' training and skills he has accumulated throughout his life, he was able to overpower the small army standing in his way. He flanked them from the back, eliminated many and opened pathways to the seemingly reachable victory for his comrades. Siris motioned forward for everyone to advance. "We can do this, push them back!"

Siris followed the squad leader to safety and demanded an updated from the other squad leaders. Their responses were all similar which concerned Siris. "We have a few more injured, no deaths, but injured. We are able to somehow hold them back so far, but we don't know how long we can keep this up for. We will eventually run out of ammo sir."

Somehow holding them back? Siris pondered, he gritted his teeth and told the squads to keep up the pressure. "Once the battle on this front has been brought back down under our control, I will head to the other squads and help as best as I can."

"Oh no, we got trouble here sir!"

What now? Siris with a fatigued expression looked in the direction the soldier pointed at. More trucks pulled up to support the enemy soldiers. Siris nearly let out a loud curse and ordered for the troops to keep up the fight. "If need be, fall back but do not let them through!"

The battle that once seemed to tilt in their favor quickly became uncertain. But even that uncertainty was disappearing and the tides were shifting in the enemy's direction. Siris could feel it in his chest, his efforts from before quickly seemed to be more of a triviality than anything else. Siris reached for his sniper rifle, he stared down the scope and became wide eyed at the numbers that presented themselves to him. "This is crazy…"

He punched a piece of cover in sudden fear and heaviness at the realization. He called out to all in his current squad and motioned backwards. "Fall back a block! If we stay, we risk everyone's lives right now. Fall back, recoup and then continue the defensive measures!"

Chloe, Carolina, and Alex, the trio neared the exit to the area identified by Church as the potential ambush spot. Alex stopped and prompted the others to do the same. He bent down and in a whisper said. "I will go ahead and scout out the enemy placements. We can then plan our move from there."

"Don't get too hasty out there," Chloe replied gently placing her hand atop his. He smiled in reassurance and left. Carolina smirked underneath the helmet and poked Chloe's cheek. "So you finally let those cats out of the bag eh?"

Chloe looked away with a huge blush. "S- Shut up!"

"Aw, don't you look cute when you are mad," further teased the ex-Freelancer earning herself an adorable pout from Chloe. Alex leaned out from the corner looking out into the street and was surprised by the lack of enemy soldiers. In fact, there were none visible to him. He pulled up the map with the enemy display and was quickly shocked to find that the once fully evident enemy numbers in the area had disappeared. Did someone come and take them down? In that case there should be bodies here. So why did they leave? He called out to their AI companion. "Church, I need you here."

"I'm here."

"What is going on? I'm at the area you said there would be hostiles at," Alex looked at him with hard eyes. "So where are they?"

"First, take a chill pill dude," Church accessed his subroutines and connected to the various satellites. He pulled up an updated map and showed it to the young assassin. "They are still here, but they have moved further away from us. It looks like they are not doing anything other than maybe observing us."

Carolina and Chloe who had been listening in on the conversation this whole time began to theorize. Carolina chimed in with the simplest possibility she could think of. "Maybe they are letting us pass?"

"Yeah maybe, but Alex," Chloe was not too keen of taking this open invitation as it was. "I think we should move in the shadows and assassinate them. It would be wise to not leave any enemy alive behind us."

"No, there are too many of them," Alex called up the two ladies to his position. Once they reached him, he stated his wishes. "We will keep on moving without stirring up any trouble."

"Ma'am," a soldier bearing the insignia of Cradle of Hope on his uniform radioed into their leader. "He just passed the area with two other women. One of the women seemed like the one we had captured before, at least the armor was."

"Good," Aria licked her lips at the growing excitement. The time grows near for when we meet again and finally end our pathetic family little brother. "I want everyone to try and separate the young man from the women. I don't care what happens to the girls, I only want him to make it to me."

"Understood."

At the police station, while in the eyes of the commissioner there was order, internally every cop suffered from holding themselves back. The urge to act out was strong in all of them for their streets were being overrun by war. The cops looked around and with every innocent glance they fazed past one chosen individual who served as their communicator. Communicator to the other cops of the nation, a man of great importance in this hour of uncertainty. Said communicator left the large hall under the guise of a washroom break and sneaked into one of their many communication rooms. He looked behind to ensure he wasn't followed for his work was sensitive in nature, and not meant for any prying ears.

He logged in using one of their many dummy accounts. Thanks to their tech experts, he had one of the dummy accounts rigged with full privileges to the system that they normally wouldn't have. He had full control of the system while ensuring his activities aren't tracked under his own account. Activating the call button on the program, he attached a headset to his head and waited patiently for their large scale coordinated communication session that they had been planning ever since the gag order from the government. Slowly, one by one people started answering and soon every state had responded.

"Good, alright let's do this. I need to know everyone's status."

The answer no matter how the communicator looked at it was the same. They were still on lock down kept under a tight watch both by their commissioner and government forces. The communicator cursed silently as he leaned against the table. "This lock down won't do anyone any good. We need to be taking action."

"Agreed, but what is it that you have in mind?"

"Well the people keeping us in lock down are so few in number compared to the rest of us," the communicator suggested. "Think about it, there is a route open to us."

"But what about the nuclear bombs in the air?"

"Well we aren't going to do much good about it from in here," said one of the cops from Texas. "We will deal with it when the time comes. First we need to get out of here."

"Then in an hour we act, does that sound good?" asked the communicator. He quickly received many satisfied responses. The hour could not go by fast enough for them, for they could finally do something to protect their homes and people.

Meanwhile, on Muffins' ship Washington did his best to try and contact Carolina. However, he was only met with the damning gaze of the loading screen. Washington had been at it for a good twenty minutes now. Normally we would connect within the first five minutes. He looked at Buttmunch and asked. "Are we out of range for communications?"

Both Buttmunch and Boyscout confirmed their status. "You should be able to talk to people on Earth."

"It could be because they started the merry fighting!" Muffins suggested trying to feel up one of his male crew members. But he was quickly put back into place by Buttmunch who threatened to break a couple of his fingers. Washington rested his chin in his hand and knew that he could not deny such a possibility. The whole of BGC stood behind him all wondering what the next step would be. Sarge simply grunted snatching Wash's attention and asked. "So what happens now?"

"Isn't that simple?" Tucker said as he stepped forward with the decisive motions of his arms. "We go to Earth right away to provide help to Carolina."

Washington looked at the data their efforts had bore fruit to. He licked his lips and hummed in deep thought. Wash turned to face the others and nodded his head. "I suppose it is about time that our efforts pay off. It is time for us all to stand as one, or fall as individuals."

"Oh, this sounds so exciting!" Doc shouted in excitement. Simmons agreed and said. "Yeah, I will go do weapons inventory to make sure there is enough for everyone here to gun crazy. Going into war unprepared is no way fight."

"Make sure that there is a rocket launcher reserved specially for me," said O'Malley with a most maniacal laugh. "I plan on going on a blood spree."

"Grif, go with Simmons," ordered Sarge at which the orange soldier laughed. "I don't know Sarge, I don't think I'm fit to go."

"I agree," Simmons said without a second thought almost shocking his best friend. "Plus, he sucks at basic maths."

"Yeah, screw you to Simmons."

Simmons however was the last one laughing as he left the area. Tucker had a better idea which even Grif could partake in. "How about getting one last training session in with our swords?"

"Bow-chika-hump-bump," spoke Caboose instantly creeping out Tucker. "Just stop, please."

"Well I'm going for my wine and cheese hour. We don't know when I will have the chance to again once we get down there," said the pink soldier. While the rest prepared and indulged themselves in their preferred activities for this was going to be an all out war, Lopez seemed rather happy stating. "[I will go make sure the Pelicans are in working condition. Finally I get some peace and quiet away from you idiots.]"

In the cop station, an hour had gone by. Their blood was at a boiling point and the time to execute their escape was at hand. They looked to one another and nodded in understanding. For the other cities, they could only hope that they succeed. One by one, they headed out to the weapons room without raising much cause for alarm. They ensured not many left at the same time, and those who came back kept their weapons concealed against even the sharpest eye in this police station. The cops had made sure to retrieve whatever they could get.

The SWAT members in agreement with this plan all hid away with the heavier hitting weapons in the parking garage upon noticing the opportunity. Once everyone was armed and ready to go, they all signalled to one another with a single glance. It was that single glance that all it took to throw the station into chaos. The cops all started running to the surprise of the commissioner. He shouted to calm the crowd, and demanded answers for their behavior. His words fell on deaf ears. His spirit slowly dwindled in the face of the determination of his cops. The officers all ran up against the government issued employees and pushed them back. Many stole the keys to the doors and with deepening breaths they opened their gates to freedom and then war. The cops all ran out ensuring no harm came to the government employees in the process.

Nationwide the cops took to the streets. Some of them raised the garage shutters and the SWAT vans drove out to spread the assault rifles and shotguns. The ATSG that once felt being overpowered was now able to stand their ground thanks to the cops. The officers themselves were surprised to learn the existence of the secret government organization such as the ATSG. As the two sides joined forces, little by little they began to drive back the enemy. Siris upon quickly learning of the news was extremely thankful for the lucky turn of events. "Thank you all so much for coming out to fight."

"Don't mention it," said one of the cops taking down one of the terrorists with their assault rifle. "This city is our home, and we are the police charged with protecting it as well as the citizens. We couldn't just sit this out and watch terrorists just trample all over it."

"Thank you," Siris however also realized the consequences for these actions. "But I hope all of you understand that if I heard of your involvement rather quickly, the leader of the terrorist organization will have no doubt to. When that happens, we risk blowing up one of the nukes."

As predicted, the news was fast to travel to Aria's ears. She watched the news delivery soldier and slammed her fist against the table. Why could you people not just sit still and let this pass over like a bad storm, why must you make it worse?! Her face saddened and her voice became weak at the heavy pressure this order weighed upon her. She reached out to her communications device and dialed for one of the carrier Pelicans.

"This is carrier Pelican C-0023RF, currently flying over the Southern areas of United State of America. I read you loud and clear ma'am."

"The time has come for you all to fulfill the purpose we trained you for," Aria spoke with a nearly deadened voice. The soldier instantly went quiet as he looked to the back where the other two looked intently at the communication window. They could hear every word, emotions played with their stomachs in anxiety, but at the same time a sense of honor was born. All of them nodded in agreement. "We understand. Please, when we are no more, make sure to make this world beautiful once again."

"You have my word," Aria gritted her teeth holding back the cries. Her soldiers put extreme amounts of faith in her, so much so that sometimes it could be so very unbearable. She cut the communication for the one final time with that Pelican and gripped her hair. She gritted her teeth and clenched shut her eyes. You all brought this on yourselves. Aria looked up at those in the room with her and stood up with a salute. "Think of our comrades who are going to in an act of bravery sacrifice themselves for the sake of our goals. Think of the general populace as they too will be sacrificed in the process all thanks to the foolish actions of the police."

The Pelican pilot leaned the joy stick forward upon confirming the population of the city below. They sat back and looked up at the blue sky. He spoke to the others who did the same. "Enjoy the view guys. Enjoy it for one last time…"

The citizens of the city looked up at the thundering sound of the sky and noticed the dark grey object approaching fast. Many pointed up in concern. The cops in that city looked wide eyed realizing the nature of the object. They all panicked and ordered for the citizens to get out of there. But just hiding in their own homes will no longer do them any good. The city wide alarms activated. The plane crashed against the ground, and the impact was enough to excite the once stable particles within the nuclear bomb. A huge flash of white light exploded from the bomb and a heat wave washed over the city, and beyond.

Everything within that heat wave began to burn down. Cars lost their paint. The fire hardened their once smooth exterior and caused uncomfortable internal reactions to the engines. The buildings all lost their windows from the force of the explosion. Everything inside burnt down to either ash or a weakened state. The structures of the building became extremely weak to the point that some even began collapsing. Many lost their exterior in certain parts of the buildings, especially the bits hit the hardest by the explosion. The humans and other living things all met the tragic fate of death where at first the initial wave instantly caused an uncomfortable reaction in their bodies thanks to the heat and radiation. Their bodies then caught fire and many screams rose in the air alongside several other cities. The mass on the bodies once burnt enough was blown away only leaving behind human bones by the next explosion wave. No life could ever hope to escape. Most of the South was taken down by that one nuclear bomb. In the aftermath, only the debris and a large mushroom cloud remained.

The governments around the world froze in shock. They all saw the large smoke cloud rise up above the area of impact. The pictures that followed the aftermath sickened a few. It was almost something like right out of a post-apocalyptic nightmare. The human remains terrified them so. Only bones, and amongst some they could swear that they saw children's bones. One of the President's administration members slammed their fist against the table and shouted in frustration. "Why did this happen? I want answers! Also send out a radiation warning to the nearby cities of that explosion!"

"Sir, it seems that the police officers acted out," said one of the employees pointing to some footage moments before the explosion. Aria called over one of her subordinates. "Tell our media informants to play the tape R-023."

The governments around the world eyed their TVs as the message was broadcasted from various news stations. In this message, Aria stood at the podium with a most disappointed and saddened face. "I asked that no government employee, civil servant or military interfere but it seems that you could not follow my demands. Due to the negligence on your part, I have taken the liberty of ordering the southern part of the USA to be eradicated through one of my carrier planes. You should be hearing this message because the bomb has already devastated the cities, the people and any life caught in the blast radius. You brought this upon yourselves, we gave you a way out and yet again you decided to do this the hard and the costly way. Should I find any more interference, I will not hesitate to order for more bombs to fall."

The government employee pointed to the phones and demanded that their justice department overlooking the police forces be put on the line. He slammed his fist against the table as he spoke to the person on the other end of the line. "Someone want to explain what the hell is going on here, why were the cops out on the street?!"

"I'm sorry sir but it seems that they managed to overpower our people and leave for the fight."

"Well get it back under control, I don't care how you do it!"

"Y- Yes sir."

The government employee slammed the phone and brushed his hair to the back. He felt his sweat build up and the horrors of the aftermath still haunted him so in his mind. These terrorist bastards are really serious. What can we even do?

Siris looked at the communication receiver wide eyed. The cops near him all felt their legs tremble in fear. The news of the bombing spread fast amongst their networks. Church helped with the initial spread to ensure everyone was informed. He sent whatever photos he could from the satellite surveillance observations. Carolina punched the wall in anger. Chloe covered her mouth at the leftover bones of the little children, almost ready to throw up. Alex closed shut his eyes and cursed his sister from the bottom of his heart. The more I see your vision taking shape, the more I detest you. A simple life was something you never believed in. You could have left all this behind and lived in peace sis. But with this you have completed your journey into insanity.

Carolina let out a loud, and a frustrated grunt. "God fucking dammit, where are Washington and the rest?!"

"You guys need to back off for now," said Siris earning a few rebellious stares. He was quick to control the situation however. "If you all continue to fight right now, they will not hesitate to detonate another bomb. If not here, then it would be in another country. More lives will be lost!"

"Fine," said the makeshift leader of the cops in this city. He did his best to reach out to all connected on the same network and said. "Everyone, back off and retreat for now. We can't risk any more bombs going off on our account."

As the cops fell back one by one, their leader looked at Siris and said. "You guys better have some way to take care of those bombs somehow."

"I'm working on it, but nothing solid so far."

The trio finally reached Aria's position marker and looked all around in anger. Carolina could not wait to get her hands on Aria so she could beat out the deactivation codes for the bombs from her and have her order the troops to stand down. But most of all, a small part of her also wished to simply torture her in the way she was tortured. But she always fought to hold that side of herself back. Chloe raised her arms in question. "Where is she?!"

"Hold on," Alex restarted his gauntlet's computer. Chloe was quickly growing impatient. "Hurry."

"I said hold on!" Alex shouted quickly silencing his partner. He rebooted the map display and saw that there was no change. In fact the position was still at the spot he stood at. Carolina looked over his shoulders and then slowly looked to the ground beneath them. "Could it be…that she is underground?"

"It's possible," confirmed Alex not entirely dismissing an underground base possibility. "If she is, then we need to find a manhole or some other entrance."

"Then we better hurry," stated Carolina quickly leading the way with Church's directions.

In the space defense line surrounding Earth, there was a disturbance in space and time picked up by the many advanced machinery owned by the UNSC. The admiral of the fleet walked up to his highest ranking officer and asked for an explanation. The officer however could not pin point the exact cause until they saw a slip space travel portal tear open. From within the portal exited several UNSC ships!

A high alert warning was sent out throughout the admiral's fleet. Communication officers manned their stations and began opening lines of communication. "UNSC ships, you are entering a protected zone under Admiral Graves' fleet. Identify yourselves as well as your orders so that we may confirm your identity and intentions here."

"What's up my hommies? This be da deliciously superstar Muffins here ja," said the German captain. The UNSC not one to take jokers lightly prepared their cannons and loaded the shells. The admiral however took over the fleet operations and ordered for all ships to stand down. He quickly found some resistance amongst his right hand man. "Sir, what are you doing?"

"Let them through, that's an order."

"Sir, with all due respect I think that is an irrational decision. We don't know what they could be carrying down to Earth."

The admiral placed his hand on his second-in-command and with a most relaxed face he said. "They are a trusted bunch, I know them personally. Let them pass."

"Yes sir," the others relayed the message to Muffins' fleet who thanked them for their understanding. Upon reaching the edge of Earth's stratosphere, the ships parked themselves in one spot. The reds and the blues looked down on the blue pearl. Some displayed excitement for this would be there first time down there.

"Sorry I wasn't here for when we exited the slip space," Washington noted as he entered in his old colors of dark grey and yellow. Donut pointed his finger at the armor and noted. "Now that's a good look for you, very Washington like. It's not as awesome as lightish red, but I can work with it."

Washington snickered underneath the helmet as he crossed his arms and looked at Earth. He told the communicator on the bridge to open whatever secure channels they could. "I want to talk to Carolina to get a basic idea of the situation down below. It's time we get down to business."

A/N: So the reds and the blues are here, alas too bad they could not be here to prevent the nuclear tragedy. But now the real battle begins. Please look forward to the next chapter when they finally get to go down to Earth and turn the tides of the battle.

Constructive feedback is always welcomed!

Thank you for reading, I appreciate the support! :)

~ Monty