Chapter Six:
The explosion destroyed a good portion of Wales. The blast was thankfully not as strong as what Buck was told. PontyPandy had been reduced to the rubble. The once proud seaside town stood there like jagged, molten, teeth clinging desperately to the rotten shoreline. Boats, bits and pieces of houses, cars, glass, radiation, all littered the ocean. Bodies floated in the water from the boats that had been caught up in the blast. Helicopters flew above the black smoke. "Negative no signs of life in this sector." radioed a pilot. "The blast did a right mess of this place. I don't think Marcelo is located in the mess." He moved back on the controls making the helicopter veer sharply to the right away from the shore.
Marcelo kicked open the cellar door. The burned wood finally gave away. He was greeted by the dull grey light coming from the grey clouds that covered the sky. Black smoke blocked his view of the ground a bit. He had on his hazard gear. "Remember to stay behind me." he murmured. He lead Helen and her family out of the cellar. He made them wear protective gear to keep them safe from the radioactive poisoning. Mandy held onto her mom. "Where is everyone?" she asked. "Probably dead." replied Marcelo. "I doubt anyone would have survived a blast like this." He carefully made his way down the hill. The grass had been burned to ash. The wind whipped up the burned grass. Cracks had formed in the ground revealing lava from the mantle. Marcelo had his SCAR machine gun close to his chest. He looked through his sights finding nothing out of ordinrary. He moved the family carefully down the path. He got them close to the ruined town. He pulled out his radio tapping into a signal. "Scardragon to crimson. Come in Crimson." the radio was static. He fiddled with the channels. "Scardragon to Crimson. I'm located near PontyPandy. I've got survivors who need extraction. My Coordinates are Alpha, Whiskey, Foxtrot, Yankey. Marked by green flare." He reached into his pack pulling out a flare. He slammed the tip of the flare causing it to light up. He tossed it behind him. "I read you Scardragon, coming from Alpha, Whiskey, Foxtrot, Yankey, I'm about 24 meters away from you ready for extraction." Marcelo smiled. "Holding position and awaiting extraction, Crimson. Over and out. See you when you get here." He put his radio back on his belt. He then picked up his gun.
Crimson began his descend only to have his radar get jammed. An EMP blast went off hitting the helicopter. The helicopter began to spiral out of control before exploding into the ground. Marcelo ran over to the helicopter. Crimson was tangled up in the fallen metal. Marcelo worked quickly to free him. He pulled his comrade out. Helen checked him over. She tied a bandage around the wound on his leg before helping him to his feet. The skies above them shook. Marcelo readied his weapon as the screech sounded above them again. Lighting flashed across the sky. The clouds began breaking to reveal a black hovercraft with green lights. Smaller crafts flew next to it. Marcelo got behind the family. "Head to the city and find some places to hide. I'll hold them off as long as I can." Mike nodded. "What about you?" he questioned. "Don't worry about me." He put a hand on Mike's shoulder. "Just get your family to safety. As soon as you can get somewhere you can set up a comm link. Radio the air force and give them your location. Stay there at that location until I can get to you." Mike nodded again. He put an arm around his daughter keeping her close. "Dad we can go to the fire station. The fire station has a radio." Mike smiled. "Brilliant idea Mandy." They began running into the city.
Annu panted sitting up. She cuddled close to Sam. "what's wrong?"he asked. "They're here." she whispered gripping his shirt tightly. Sam sat upright on the small cot he had made for them. They had arrived on the neighboring nation of Ireland. Ireland had the refugees from PontyPandy sheltered in an big house that sat in the heart of Dublin. Elvis sat up on his elbows. "What's she talking about?" Sam sighed. "The aliens." Annu nodded. "It's the Ero Fleet. They're a nation of savages. They've come to wipe this planet clear off of the map." she whimpered. "How do you know all of that?" Annu looked at Elvis. "I don't know." she lied. "I guess some of my memory is coming back." Elvis nodded. Sam rubbed her back gently. "It's okay you'll be safe here." he looks around to find the whole of PontyPandy asleep still. Charlie had his kids as well as his wife next to him. His arms were around his wife with her head on his shoulder. He opened one eye to see his brother looking at him. Bronwyn stirred. She rubbed her eyes. She looked down seeing her kids asleep near her. She smiled. She then frowned a bit. "Did Hoshi make it out love?" he heard Bronwyn ask. Charlie shrugged. "I don't know dear." he kissed her cheek. She put her hands to her chest. "I hope he's okay." He hugged her tight. He scanned the crowd. He didn't have a trace of his son's black hair anywhere. His heart sank. "I don't see him." She whined softly. She held the twins close to her. A marine walked in. He went over to Fire Capt Steele. "Sir I have news concerning Hoshizora Jones and Ben Hopper." Steele looked at him. "Their ship was reported damaged. We're sending our Coast Guard to help them out. As far as what Ben was saying the both of them are okay." Steele smiled. "That is excellent news." Bronwyn leaned on Charlie. "Thank goodness for that." Hoshi was her adopted child. She didn't want anything bad to happen to him.
Hoshi sat down on the ledge of the boat watching Ben inspect the engine. "Yeah that blast did a right mess of it." sighed Ben. "we won't be going anywhere." Hoshi nodded. "I put a call through to the Ireland Coast Guard. They said they're on their way." Hoshi heard a foghorn go off. The black bow of an Irish Coast Guard boat broke through the fog. Hoshi got up. He walked to the stern of their boat. A guard looked down at them. "Don't move we'll give you guys a tow!" The guard tossed a rope down to them. Hoshi tied it to the bow of the boat. The Coast Guard motioned for the capt to begin moving. The Irish boat towed Titan all the way to shore.