Chapter 17: Scuffle

Siris ran through the debris upon defeating a squadron of enemy soldiers with the help of a few allies. He looked around at the situation and studied the amount of damage their fighting had bore on the people of the city. Everywhere he looked, he would find buildings with cracks, pieces falling out or completely crumbled. This is terrible. He looked to a few of his allies and said. "You are going with me. We are going to back up Alex in apprehending Aria. I want to end this quickly!"

As they all ran for the manhole Alex last indicated as the entry way, they found themselves in an ominously quiet open area. He motioned towards the open manhole. "Alright, we will go in one by one. The first person to go in scouts the area and ensures it is safe for the rest to follow. Un-"

"Sir, we might have a problem."

"What is it?" Siris stood up clearly tired of the interruptions to their missions. The soldier pointed all around them as they saw the rising enemy from the ruined buildings. Oh shit, Siris readied his weapons and ordered the rest to do the same. They were boxed in, a situation completely playing against their favor. Initially they managed to hold their ground as the sounds of the guns went off. The smell of hot bullet casing left a sickening trail in the air, and the rising debris and dust made things harder for both sides. Siris motioned for the heavy gun and sniper rifle users to begin pushing aggressively. "Take them out now!"

"Grenade Launchers!" shouted one of the allied soldiers as they jumped away from their cover and into the other. Siris' eyes widened as he saw several grenades land all around them. In unison they blew up like a firework display of death. From the explosive impact, the allied soldiers were blown back and fell on the ground whimpering with agony. The mere impact of the explosion was enough to break the ribs and bones of those not adequately protected for such situations. As more grenades exploded, body parts started flying around and blood sprayed leaving the ground painted in crimson as if it were a canvas. One by one, they all died until only Siris was left alive huddled beneath a few bodies of his deceased comrades. His whole body shook at the prospect of death. I have to get back to her. Another explosion, one that was enough to catch one of his friend's bodies on fire prompted him to crawl away. I can't die here. I have to get back to my daughter!

As the explosions stopped, Siris stood up and began an unusual limp. He stared down at his prosthetic foot and found several cracks as well as slight malfunctions on there. The bruises on his body ached like a sharp thorn piercing the most sensitive areas of his body. He was out in the open and in clear sight. Realizing his disadvantage, he hobbled over to another piece of cover and reloaded his assault rifle. One of the enemy soldiers aimed their grenade launcher and fired one nearby the cover. Siris comforted by the fact that he would be safe, he failed to realize one key object that put him at an even greater disadvantage. As the grenade exploded, he leaned out of cover and opened fire upon the enemy using the triple magnification sight on the rifle. Just then his nose alerted his mind of a fire. He looked to his right and his eyes widened as he saw a black car on fire. Siris stood up to try and run, but it was too late. The car exploded and threw Siris away down to the ground! His prosthetic leg was completely smashed and unusable now. He studied the condition and cursed his tardiness in failing to take proper care of it in light of recent events.

"Check the bodies. Make sure none are left alive!"

Siris watched the enemy soldiers descend and he quickly crawled away to a man sized hole in the ground. He took some nearby large enough debris and covered it leaving only a crack open.

"Where is that asshole I shot with the grenade launcher by the car?"

"Who knows, probably dead, could be incinerated or blown away. I don't really give a shit."

"Yeah whatever, let's just move on," said the enemy as they left in formation to their next sector. Siris pushed the debris out of the way and with every fiber of his strength he crawled out. He lifted the front part of his body and gritted his teeth at the amount of pain his leg felt from the broken prosthetic's pain feedback system. "Fuck, god dammit."

He brought one arm in close as he could feel sharp bouts of pain. I'm in real bad shape here. I think I broke a couple of bones in my arm. He lied down on his back and took in a deep breath upon feeling crippled. "If anyone can hear me, this is Siris, I need backup. All of my squad members are KIA. I'm incapacitated with several injuries and a broken prosthetic foot. Please, I need help. Also be careful of the enemy, their soldiers are now using grenade launchers."

Within the shelter where the father and the son alongside many others looked at the war, they found the military pushing the terrorists back. It seemed as if the added military power helped turn the tides in their favor. Everyone in the building cheered for their saviors, and slammed their destructors. The happiness however quickly died down as one pointed to a rooftop building where a terrorist stood up with a rocket launcher. Several others followed his example and aimed it down below at the streets. "Remember, no survivors."

They aimed the rockets at the smaller buildings opposite to them and opened fire to bring down hell upon their adversaries. The soldiers were quick to notice however and reacted fast. They took out a flare gun upon identifying the heat seeking rockets. As the rockets became distracted, the soldiers quickly found out some were headed for a shelter when a flare was accidently fired in its direction. The military personnel quickly began shouting for the residents to evacuate. The rockets came with a strong impact as the whole building shook. The outer walls cracked and inside small pieces began to fall apart alongside dust. The father quickly embraced his son and gritted his teeth in wonder. Is this really it for us now?

"Everyone, out now!"

As if given the permission for chaos to break lose, everyone rushed outside without a care for one another. Even if one were to get trampled, no one would stop to check. Right now, all that mattered was their self preservation. The father carried his son out safely, however they were some of the unfortunate few to come face to face with the falling debris of their shelter. The father braced his son tightly, so much so that the son found it a little hard to breathe for the impact. A red figure quickly zoomed past them and held a falling rock atop him from harming the civilians. "What are you doing, get outta here!"

The red falls to his knee and grunts in pain. The father looked at the red soldier now screaming in pain. A blue soldier quickly came to his aid and began lifting the rock off of him. He noticed the two civilians and became increasingly frustrated at the lack of self-preservation the father displayed. "What are you waiting for, a god damn taxi? Get out of here already, it's not safe!"

"Ah, t- thank you!" The father turned and ran away but upon hearing more rocket launchers fire, he looked back to his two rescuers. As the blue soldier got the rock off, he assessed the red one's health and gently rubbed his back. The father's eyes widened as the rockets focused on them. The blue soldier looked up in shock and stood over the red soldier as if to shield him. The red one looked back with mouth wide open at death coming for them. As the rockets collided with their bodies, and the very fabric of their suit and skin torr apart, they were blown away. The father looked in horror to find their severed limbs, one still alive screaming in agony only moments before succumbing to the creeping reaper that came to take that soul away. The father ensured his son's face was turned in the opposite direction. He glared up towards the terrorists on the building and silently cursed. Because of people like you others have died. I will always remember the good people, always.

"Daddy."

"Right, I'm sorry," he faced his son with a smile and ran away at the first sign of safety.

Kai stared at the progress Tucker and Simmons' squad made against his mini army. He looked at the coordinated fighters with interest and the growing anticipation at crushing them in the near future. One of the blues pointed in Kai's general direction as they cleared open a pathway. "Go now sirs, we will hold them off here."

"Sweet, you guys are bad asses!" shouted Tucker as he led the way for Simmons and Palomo. Kai smiled and took in a deep breath. How good it feels to not be held back by anything, to be able to just let go. He activated the switch on his suit which injected nano-bots into him strengthening his muscles, increased his speed and inflated his ego. As the three stopped in front of him, each taking out their rifles he happily smiled while wearing his helmet. "It seems you lot are not as spineless as I had pegged you all for."

"We can surprise even ourselves sometimes," spoke Tucker with bitter contempt. Simmons checked his weapon and noted. "You would be wise to stand down now, just give up and tell us what your next moves are."

Palomo walked closer with his weapon raised at Kai's head level. "Just cooperate and we can stop this fighting."

"I had said that you are not as spineless as I thought you to be originally," said Kai stopping Palomo in his tracks who took a few steps back. Kai punched his palm and stretched his neck. "But now I will have to make it so."

Sarge and Washington pushed through the enemy using the pathway their squad soldiers had made for them. Kabira watched from afar as she activated the dormant nano-bots in her suit and wore the helmet. I finally get to be in the action. She rotated her arm in circles and felt the muscles grow stronger with every second the nano-bots took effect. Wash and Sarge came face to face with her and raised their guns at her. Washington stepped forward ahead of Sarge. "Give up, you have already lost. This fighting is now pointless."

"I agree," Sarge answered nervously. "Plus, I would never hit a woman."

Kabira scoffed at the red soldier's words. "Then I will just have to change that pussy attitude of yours."

"Reconsider your choice," Washington replied. Kabira laughed loudly. "The only way to obtain something that you want in this world is through power and force. If you really for me to stop, then come stop me or are you too chicken you little boys?"

Wash and Sarge looked to one another and nodded in understanding as Wash whispered. "Alright then, it's your funeral."

Underground, Aria walked towards Alex and Carolina with her arms tense. Her opponents were on their guard much to her amusement and laughter. She stopped a few steps away from the two who took a step backwards. She shook her head and with great speed she closed in on them, bent downwards and delivered a strong punch to the sides of their knee!

She stood up and watched the two hobble about against the wall. She crossed her arms and scoffed. "Really now, that wasn't even half my strength. If you two begin to start limping already, then this won't be any fun."

Be careful Sis, that suit is feeding her with additional abilities, stated Church. Carolina gritted her teeth to suck up the pain and punched the wall. I have noticed. Church appeared between his two allies and stated. "We are at a disadvantage here. We need an open area to fight in."

"Oh my," Aria rested her palm against her face. "What a cute AI we have here. I will be sure to take it as a trophy once I have killed you both."

Aria activated her superior speed and pushed Alex to the side. She punched Carolina to the face out of pure contempt and pushed her down to the ground. "Keep up if you can, I know a pretty good spot for us to fight in!"

"She is really getting on my nerves," said Carolina standing up with Alex's help. Church snickered and asked. "When has she not?"

"Can we even catch up to her like this?" asked Alex. Carolina looked at the young assassin with a smirk. "Maybe not you, but with my speed unit I should be fine."

"Oh thanks for playing as a team there."

"Actually," Carolina looked to Church who looked away with a less so enthusiastic voice. "I don't think I will have enough energy for the other modules if you use your speed module now."

"Looks like we are stuck together then," claimed Alex with a sense of victory. "Plus, granted the tracer doesn't smoke out, we will have a trail to follow."

Irene watched with lazy eyes as Donut, Caboose and Lopez pushed forward. Her soldiers quickly began to feel the creeping feeling of defeat loom over their shoulders. Irene stood up a little wobbly and yawned with the stretch of her arms. She activated her communication transmitter to all her soldiers and ordered. "Start bombarding them with your grenades."

As the grenades started raining, the reds and the blues ran for cover. The explosions were of no serious consequence to them as the impact was absorbed by their armor's shields. Irene squinted her eyes at this and gently tapped her hair. Hmm, this is like a puzzle just begging to be solved. What can I do? But just then an idea struck her. I guess I will play an aggressive tactic like Kabira here. She ordered for her troops to surround the enemy. "Box them in, and create a perimeter around them."

Sherry and Ohio observed the situation and with visible support from the rest of the gang, the two ladies pushed their leaders towards Irene. "Go, we will handle things here."

"Go before they close it off!" shouted Ohio. Iowa gave a thumb up to Caboose and said. "You can do it!"

Donut looked back with gratitude as he tugged Caboose along by the arms. Lopez ran up behind them and managed to break through just as they were about to close the perimeter off. The ex-freelancer and Charon soldiers watched the three disappear into the distance with a small chuckle. We have done some crazy stuff before but this has got to be the craziest. Terrill looked at the rest and asked. "So, how much ammo do we have to deal with this?"

"Not enough, that much I'm sure of," Idaho replied checking his clip and reloading the assault rifle. Darryl looked from Idaho to their enemies and with evident sarcasm he spoke. "Lovely."

"But we will still try," said Idaho and the others agreed. Iowa also added his strong belief in their friends. "I know Caboose and the rest can take down their leader here. I also know that we can take these soldiers down because we are the good guys!"

"It's a shame though," said Terrill getting everyone's attention. "We could all have been sharing a nice cool drink right now if they were willing to stop fighting."

"Sometimes there is just no helping people bro," said Darryl. All of them ran for cover as the firing began. Ohio and Sherry could feel the impact their cover suffered from the already broken state meeting the bullets head on. The debris vibrated until they saw a bullet pierce through. Sherry pushed Ohio away. "Run to another piece of cover!"

Sherry got up and fired her rifle nailing a few targets. She jumped up in the air and landed on her stomach near Idaho. She crawled over until safely behind cover and reloaded her gun. Stay safe out there babe, she thought eyeing Ohio.

Having Broken through Dallas' army, Grif, Bitters and Matthews ran for Dallas who easily avoided them all, tripped them down to the ground and took several steps back. With a few grunts the Chorus soldiers and Grif picked themselves up again. They wiped their visors clean of the dirt and gritted their teeth. Dallas activated a button on his suit and argued. "You have made a foolish choice. I'm more powerful and stronger than you three."

"Arrogance is not a good trait bro," said Bitters. Dallas laughed while putting on his helmet. "I'm not arrogant, just confident."

"More like over condiment," Matthews replied holding out his hand to which Grif gave a high five to. "Got him!"

Grif reloaded his weapon and passed around an extra clip to his co-leaders. I may be useless but even I can have these moments to shine such as not forgetting the extra ammo once in a while, because I'm such a badass!

Aria came face to face with a silent wall that stared at her blankly. She looked back to her left and smirked. "I see you two have finally made it here."

She watched the two tiredly hobble their way inside. "You can't tire yourselves out. We are just getting started after all."

Alex caught his breath and glared up towards her. Aria gave a sarcastically scared motion with her hands. "Please, your glare terrifies me so."

"Why did you choose to change so much, sister?"

"It's not like I had the choice to begin with. I was molded into this since birth," she took in a deep breath and recalled the vivid memory of a beautiful playground, the blue skies and a relaxingly breezy day. "Do you recall any of our family picnics Alex?"

He remained silent to the query. She eyed him from behind the visor quite saddened at the silence. "Well, I remember quite a bit. You would probably remember it through rose colored glasses I'm guessing, where happiness is available in abundance and all was right in the world. The clichéd yet truly simple world view we as little kids tend to have."

Carolina felt growing contempt for every moment she spent looking at Aria. The pain she experienced was reminded to her. She looked down at her missing finger, a detail Aria took special note of. "I remember those memories with extreme precision. I remember the scornful faces of our parents hidden behind those superficial smiles. They tried so hard to atone for their guilt perhaps through you for all the things they did and continued doing to me. I wonder if they ever showed you love out of an instinct to nurture you or to just make themselves feel better."

She turned to face him and stared solely at him now. Everything else in her view was slowly blurred out of sight until only he remained. "Ever since you were born, I have always loved you. As a sister I wanted to protect that little vulnerable brother. But at the same time I grew to hate you because it was only you receiving the special treatment. It was only you getting those loving looks from our parents. But now that our family is broken apart, and since nothing is left, no one to punish me for saying these things, it grants me the opportunity to voice my thoughts freely."

"Did you feel the same when it was only the two of us, struggling everyday to survive?" asked Alex finally receptive to her comments. Aria looked at her hands with a soft whisper. "When it was just the two of us…you were a liability to my survival. I wanted to kill you in your sleep so many bloody times that it sometimes drove me crazy for not doing so!"

She balled her hands into fists and stepped forward. "But now I finally can."

Carolina took a stance against her between the young man and Aria. The enemy leader was amused and strangely enough moved. "Aw, isn't that sweet that you want to protect Alex. But you made one big mistake bitch, I won't allow anyone to come in between our family matters!"

She began running towards Carolina who crossed her arms in front of her and gritted her teeth. As Aria neared, she raised her hand and swung for strong impact. Carolina slid back a few meters and only stopped with Alex's help. He told her to never go in alone again. She took his advice to heart and the two braced for another impact. Aria jumped in the air, rotated her leg and kicked the side of Carolina's helmet until she went tumbling down to the ground. Alex blocked his sister's punch and ducked beneath her roundhouse kick. He felt himself lose his balance upon standing back up and receiving a small blow to the chest. He was cornered against the wall and felt his jaw swing from her fist. She watched at the two grovel on the ground and noted. "Let's finish what our parents started with our family Alex."

A/N: A shorter chapter this time around. The combat oriented ones will get short(er) now as this is all about the fighting and leading to the conclusion leading. Mind you there will still be some dialogues and twists and turns to hopefully keep things interesting.

Constructive feedback/criticism is always welcomed! :)

Thank you for taking the time to read and support the story.

~ Monty