His mind was spinning, reeling and it was almost impossible for him to open his eyes. They only thing he heard was a ringing noise that prevented any voices or other sounds from entering his ears. He was not in control of his body, yet he could feel himself moving forward, as if carried by someone or something.
The Commander forced his eyes open and took stock of his current situation. Friedrich was carrying him on her shoulder, flanked by Warspite in the front and Sand Diego at the back. Between Friedrich and San Diego was the newly formed Valkyries, who were just as out of it as he was.
His vision blurred yet he noticed how scared and frantic they were. Among the trio, Blake's worried and fearful expression stuck out the most to him. According to what he recalled, the man had seen combat and had ample military training. So then why was he covering his head and turning left to right like a normal civilian would?
"—son," said a voice, but not clear enough for him to make out the first part.
"My son," said the voice, this time sounding clearer. He turned his head back and saw Friedrich, who looked relieved to see him awake.
"My son, are you okay?" she asked, not minding the explosions around her or the planes above her.
"James"
"He's alive"
"Oh, thank goodness," cried out the Valkyrie squad who were more relieved that Friedrich to see him awake.
The words failed to leave his mouth. Instead, he mustered a nod and that was enough.
"Friedrich," he said and she listened "put me down."
"Not with that wound you're sporting," she replied.
The Commander thought it strange. He did not feel any pain that came from an injury yet Friedrich said otherwise. It was only after he heard her did he feel a sudden sharp pain hit him from his side. Grimacing, he turned to his right side and saw an open wound. How it happened was unknown to him.
But, at present, he could not let that slow them down. As long as Friedrich was carrying him, she could not help the others and that made him a liability. The last thing he wanted was that.
"Friedrich…" he said, his voice sounding almost normal by now.
"NO," she shouted, cutting him off before he could complete his sentence.
Friedrich, Warpiste and San Diego knew what their leader was thinking. Though their present condition put them at a tactical disadvantage, things would only get worse if Friedrich put down the Commander. Sure they would overcome their attackers, but at the risk of further opening up his wound.
There was an unwritten and unspoken rule that every member of the Azur Sky followed: protect the Commander. Ensuring his safety was their first and primary objective above all else and they would follow it to the letter. And if that meant damaging the Commander's pride then so be it.
"There," yelled Warspite, pointing to a half-standing building that offered some protection against the Siren jets above.
"Let's go," said Friedrich and San Diego let loose a wild barrage in the sky. The random nature of her attack took down several Siren planes and caused the remaining to break formation. Before they could recover and resume the attack, the group ducked into the building.
Once inside, everyone remained silent. Each member even covered their mouths to prevent their enemy from hearing them breathing.
They heard the sounds of the planes flying overhead followed by the ships chasing after them. Warspite looked outside and managed to catch a glimpse of several Hybrids scanning the area before tucking her head back inside.
The group remained perfectly silent and quiet as the Hybrids passed. Then, one robot turned to the building entrance and marched forward. As they heard its footsteps grow louder, they scrambled back. Their pursuer entered the building and emitted a red laser from its eyes. The laser expanded till it covered the length of the area while the Hybrid turned its head from left to right. When it found that there were no life signs, it stopped scanning and went outside.
Hidden behind a wall, the group stumbled out and took a moment to collect themselves.
Marie quickly shot to her feet and began frantically pacing from left to right, chanting "oh my god" like it were some prayer of sorts. Alexis and Blake looked outside to confirm there was no one else. San Diego meanwhile raised the Commander's shirt in order to view the damage.
She, Warspite and Friedrich noticed that his new injury was one of several that he sustained.
"Don't look at me like its over already," he mused aloud, to try and lighten the mood "I've been hit by worse."
Friedrich was almost ready to argue his point but then remembered the time they faced that Arbiter together.
"Don't worry," he said, reaching into his jacket and taking out a mobile suture kit.
"James," said Blake, as he and Alexis came back "we're good for now but there's no telling when they might come around for another sweep. We need to keep moving."
"We'll move after the Commander patches himself up," aid Warspite "and by the way, when we're on a mission, you will address James as the Commander."
"Oh, right, sorry," said Blake, lowering his head.
The Commander meanwhile went to a corner off the room, took off his shirt and started the work. First thing he did was disinfect the needle and then his wound. It stung a little, making him groan but the pain quickly subsided after that. Now, he started closing up his wound. Originally, he had no skills whatsoever in stitching, but after the Christmas incident, he took it up as a hobby.
If they made it to this Christmas, he planned to give the girls much better winterwear than that wreck he made the first time.
'If,' he repeated and mentally slapped himself. It wasn't a question of if, they were going to make it to this Christmas and many more.
The Commander was so focused in his thoughts, he didn't notice that he was already done. Examining his injury, he concluded that this was good enough for now. He turned around and headed back to the group. By now, Alexis managed to calm Marie down while the rest were waiting for him.
"Are you ready to go?" asked Friedrich.
"I am," he replied with a nod "let's get out of here."
The group made a modified diamond formation with San Diego at the front, Friedrich and Warspite on the left and right flanks respectively, the Commander in the middle and the Valkyries in the back. They made their way through the empty and destroyed streets, careful not to make a noise or cause a disturbance. The fear of running into or alerting a nearby patrol was enough to keep everyone on guard at all times.
Eventually, they reached the ruins of a shopping mall. Given how plants were sticking out of some of the walls, safe to say this place was empty long before the invasion happened.
"Shall we stay the night there?" asked Friedrich and the Commander shook his head.
"Too many entry points and not enough of us to form a perimeter," he replied.
With a nod, the group moved away from the mall and came across a two-storey apartment. The Commander noted the boarded windows and decided that this would be a good place. With a gesture to the others, they headed to the door. The Commander first tried opening the door but found that it was locked. Warspite then came forward and with a simple sword swing, she created an entrance.
The Commander thanked her for the help before he and the rest went inside. They reached the remains of a hall that had its ceiling blown out and was littered with broken furniture and debris. The Commander tapped a finger against the wooden planks that barred the window to check if they were sturdy. Content with that, he helped the others with moving some stuff around and creating enough space for them to relax.
Once that was done, the group finally sat down and took stock of their situation.
"Good news or bad news first?" he asked to the others.
"Bad news," replied Alexis almost immediately "best we get that out of the way."
"Well the bad news is that the enemy did see us and there's every chance they're tightening up their defences," he replied "which means that it'll be a lot harder to attack the anchor."
"And the good news?" asked San Diego.
"Good news is we're all alive. No one got caught and we've managed to avoid detection so far," he replied.
"At least there's that," said Blake, sighing in relief "then, if you're okay with it Commander, I'll be taking the first watch."
"No, that won't be necessary," he replied, looking away.
Before anyone could ask why, they saw the side of his cheek curl up into a smile.
"It seems like we won't be getting sleep anytime soon," he added "right, gentlemen?"
After saying that, they heard the sound of several guns cocking, followed by a voice coming from all over.
"I'll bet you must be kicking yourselves for falling into this trap," said a male voice and judging from the tone, sounded like he came from the southern part of North America.
"Not really," replied the Commander "notice how we're all sitting down despite having guns trained on us?"
"Indeed I did," said the man "you're making the job of tying you up very easy and I thank you for that. Now, how about you raise your hands up and we can proceed?"
"Nope," was the reply.
"What?"
"You sound like a healthy man, I don't need to repeat myself," was the reply.
"Now look here son, I don't know what you think you're doing but you're in no position to stop us."
"I think I am," said the Commander "in the time that we've spoken, I've figured out the number of soldiers you have, their positions and I also know how experienced they are."
"And how did you figure out that last part?" asked the voice.
"Because their hearts are beating like its about to burst out of their chest," he replied "I'd like you to consider the following, if you lower your guns and come out, we can talk about things like civil people and everyone gets to walk away alive."
"If you continue like this, I'll have one of my teammates bring the building down on your heads."
On hearing this, Marie was about to shoot to her feet, only to have Friedrich place her hand on her thigh and stop her.
"We were in this building before your group came in, I know for a fact you didn't place any bombs around here."
"Who said anything about bombs? My teammates may not look it but they are very strong. Much stronger than me."
"So, what's it going to be boss?" asked the Commander, turning his attention to one part of the open ceiling "you want to gamble the lives of your men on a couple of strangers?"
At first there was silence, an uneasy silence. While the six members of the team weighed their options, the Commander remained calm. His gaze remained on that one part of the ceiling.
Then, they noticed something drop down to their level. The small rays of moonlight coming into the room were enough for them to make out a figure.
"Men, lower your weapons," said the man, coming forward. On seeing this, the Commander finally got up and went to meet the man.
The man in question was five-foot-tall with grey hair on his head and his moustache. He had the face of a bulldog and the eyes of someone who had seen more than one should in a single lifetime. He stood with his shoulders back, showing no signs of slumping. It was a sign the man spent some time in the armed forces, enough that it left an impression on him. He had a sidearm holstered in its pocket as he came forward. The man gave the Commander a salute and proceeded with introductions.
"Curtis Blackwell, military head of the Human Resistance: Central Division."
The Commander sighed in his mind. He was initially worried about how he might make contact with the Human Resistance here, but luck was on his side tonight.
"James Harper of the Azur Sky," he said, extending his right hand out.
"Hold on a moment there," said Curtis, scratching his chin "why does that name sound so familiar?"
A few seconds later and a voice from the second floor shouted "OH SHIT! Sir, we just pointed our guns at the Commander."
On hearing that, Curtis immediately grew pale. The Commander could see the blood drain from his face as Curtis noticed the sheathed sword and the metal left arm.
He opened his mouth, but the words failed him. The Commander had been in that position several times before and understood how nervous the man must have felt. To clarify, he never pointed a gun at a superior officer but there were many times he was disrespectful to them without knowing who they were.
"It was an honest mistake," said the Commander, finally breaking the silence by coming forward and putting his hand on Curtis' shoulder.
"I am glad though that you backed down. It would be bad if things escalated further."
"Boy I'll say," muttered Curtis, the colour slowly returning to his face.
Curtis then looked behind the Commander, to the other six members of his group and asked "are these…"
"It's a little complicated and I'll be happy to explain it when we're back at your base," said the Commander, cutting him off. "Do you have a base?"
"Of course, of course," he replied, almost stumbling over his words "guys come down, stop staring from up there."
"Hell no," replied one of the soldiers "I pointed a gun at the Commander. No way can I look him in the eye after that."
Taking a page out of her Commander's book, Warspite turned to the voice and said "if you want, we could come up there and bring you down. And you don't really want that."