Chapter 21

Paxton carefully dodged pedestrians while behind the wheel, keeping his foot glued to the pedal and pressed into the floorboards. The UAZ very easily handled the sudden turns on the dirt road, carrying him closer to the Nojuro Temple. As he continued to the east, the gunfire started to settle down in the woods. The sudden silence was a clear indication to him that the troops up north had most likely begun a retreat. What small forces he sent to the Mobile Carrier might not have been enough to handle a full-on assault. He dreaded the possibility that they might have been wiped out in the exchange.

There were at least ten guns posted near the Nojuro Temple. Scattered across the town were a dozen or so group troops from the Kerrigan and Munger. Attached to each squad were a handful of recruits from the town. Any minute now, this town would be leveled. The forces of Liberation had no idea the power Delta had at his helm nor the capabilities to fight off such a monstrosity.

Paxton slammed his foot into the brakes as he pulled up to the front gate of the Temple. As he emerged, he glanced over to the front yard to see it completely vacant. What remained nearby as far as reinforcements went had already entered the temple. Each floor contained a handful of troops, each poised on the northern front of the village.

“I need two rockets up on the roof, four guns on the second floor, and everybody else to spread out.” Paxton shouted upon entering the front door.

The inside was still in shambles. Most of the troops, including those in Liberation, were about to get their first dose of combat. As Paxton continued around and up to the second floor, he turned over to the center of the floor to see the radio operator already on standby.

“Have we got any word back from the Mobile Carrier?” Paxton asked.

“Negative, sir.” The operator—Chris—said back. The young operator tried to reload the settings once more, waiting for anything from the other end. After fumbling with the controls for a moment, he pulled the headset away from his ears. “The enemy has something jamming communications. We’ve been dead in the water for almost half an hour now.”

“If we engage without those comms, most of our men will be going in blind.”

“I can’t help that, sir.” Chris sighed, lowering the receiver once more to free up the signal. There was a slight buzz from the once dead communications, followed by a voice.

“This is Team Echo, my team is down, and I need help. I’m at the Mobile Carrier, over.” Mezrich’s voice rang from the speaker on the field radio. Paxton rushed over, pushing Chris aside so he could take control.

“This is the Major, is anybody else with you?” Paxton asked into the receiver, waiting as the device buzzed. There was a hiss.

“I’m alone, please don’t leave me here.”

“Just keep calm, do you have a visual?”

“No, but they hit me with their new weapon. It’s some gravity manipulation device,” Mezrich’s voice started to fade back into the static.

“Alright, boss, I’m coming to get you. Stay quiet and stay alive until I get over that way,” Paxton ordered before tossing the headset over to Chris.

Hearing the agony laden voice of Mezrich had whipped him into gear. The mention of gravity manipulation left him speculating the power of the oncoming threat.

“Listen up, you maggots,” Paxton barked. “G.E.I. forces are about to hit hard and fast. If you can’t keep calm, you’re dead. If you fuck around for a second, you’re dead. These guys are deadlier than anything you’ve ever had to face, believe that.”

There was no response from the men. Fear had clenched onto everyone, leaving the room silent. Paxton knew that trying to lead this mission deaf would be a massive disadvantage. He stared out the window and towards the forest to get some data on the situation. The two rocketeers on the roof had pointed their weapons down range towards the trees by the northern front. All around him, the other troops had pointed their weapons upwards. The anxiety of the approaching foe only raised the tension. Within moments, one of the first enemy craft had come into view.

The first of the gunships had blasted over the green on the opposite end of the town, beginning its first pass. There was a barrage of popping noises barely audible in the distance. Paxton wanted to take a shot, but they were way too far out for him. He knew there was no chance that any of their weapons outside of maybe the rockets to hit something that far away. Trying to use one of the pulse rifles only risked hitting one of the troops in town.

Closer by the Temple, the second gunship had blasted over the trees and began to circle the building. A few of the men called out in hopes to trigger a response from the others. Within seconds, the enemy ship had started the first pass of the Temple. There was whistling followed by the sound of exploding wood. A cone of bullets flew from one of the guns onboard the aircraft and struck the second floor, forcing the Liberation troops to take cover. The tracers round punching through illuminated the inside of the temple. The quick flashes had given them an indicator of where not to be, but the firepower from the gunship would not cease and would eventually cover the entire area. Paxton screamed out for an additional order to retreat but had been drowned out by the clamor of bullets. The vinyl and wax sheets covering the walls of the temple had no chance against the heavy machine gun fire. Among the racket, a few of the men on the second floor had been struck and turned into a cloud of bloody chunks.

Before the enemy airship could finish the first pass, it had struck one of the support beams near the corner of the temple. Chris and the rest could feel the floor starting to rumble. He tried to keep a low profile while the bullets continued to trail towards him. Paxton quickly sprung to action and dashed over to Chris before the projectiles could strike. He grabbed hold of Chris’ blouse and managed to pull him back just seconds before the storm of metal had brushed through.

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The field radio had been struck, exploding in a cloud of debris while a flurry of cracks raced across the floor. As the gunship finished it pass, the volley of bullets completely ceased.

“Return fire!” Paxton quickly screamed as he rose to his feet.

The gunship had started to move away from the Temple and to the south, avoiding the barrage of bullets from Liberation. Paxton and the men took a chance to try and hit the vessel, but their attempts had not yielded any results. The vehicle’s speed combined with the wind velocity had made retaliation impossible. The rockets were far too slow and valuable to be wasted on such a futile attempt. As Liberation’s forces continued the assault, the two gunships had steadily made rounds through the town.

Paxton turned away from the fire and back towards the forest front. At this point, the dropship was starting to approach. Its massive hull was visible from the Temple and a perfect target for the rockets.

“Shoot the big one!” Paxton shouted towards the rocketeers on the roof.

The first rocketeer sighted in and stood by as the onboard targeting system of the weapon locked onto to the dropship. The screen inside of the scope blinked with several green symbols and squares. Over time, they had started to center onto the airship. Once they locked in, the crosshairs had flashed red.

“Back-blast area secure, firing rocket!” The rocketeer shouted.

He pulled back on the trigger and was greeted with loud roar, sending the projectile forwards. The rocket travelled a couple hundred yards ahead and towards the ground. Before lowering too far, two sets of metal fins erected from its side, causing it to guide itself towards the target. Paxton watched in anticipation of the impact as the projectile started to close in.

The underside of the dropship’s wings had been fitted with two large gatling-gun type of weapons—an anti-air defense ready to react to such an attack. The port-side defense system had intercepted the missile in flight and returned a volley of bullets. In a flash of light, the rocket had been struck by a stray round before exploding in the air. It appeared to consume the aircraft from Paxton’s view, but he had been perturbed after seeing the massive vehicle hover its way through the smoke moments later.

“We’re going to have to get closer,” Paxton said. He turned up towards the rocketeers on the roof and shouted on, “You two, make your way down here. We’re sitting ducks right here.”

The dropship had started to rotate horizontally and to the left before taking aim at the Temple. Paxton’s eyesight had not been good enough to make out what type of weaponry the aircraft wielded, but he had just enough foresight to realize that they were the next target. Closer towards the hull of the vehicle, adjacent to the gatling guns, a missile of its own locked back onto Paxton’s crew. He felt a chill in the air as there was a flash from beneath the enemy’s ship.

The missile from the dropship started speeding back their way, moving much faster than their own. Paxton had barely been able to give a command to take cover. Before the words could even leave his mouth, the enemy rocket had struck the base of the Temple. At the last possible moment, he and Chris had tried to make a dash towards the windows while the rest of the crew took cover.

Following the impact, an earth-shattering blast rumbled through the Temple, causing everybody in the surrounding area to fall to the ground. The Temple erupted in a ball fire, slowly starting to crumble under its own weight. The support beams on half of the structure had been completely taken out in the short battle, causing the other beams to snap. Paxton barreled from the second floor and towards the top of the UAZ. While in flight, he made one final maneuver to flip himself onto his back to break his fall. Chris had lost all control, smashing into the ground arm first.

Paxton bounced off the top of the UAZ and rolled over onto his feet in a single motion. He had never felt closer to death after all the explosions he had experienced. The shockwave of the blast had since passed, but the sound of lumber snapping started to consume them. Further across the lawn, Chris had lifted himself off the grass to expose his broken arm to the world. His face lit up with pain. Paxton glanced over, seeing the man’s hand practically hanging from the rest of the limb.

“I think it’s broken, sir.” Chris said as his voice started to break.

The grizzly sight had barely fazed Paxton. The decades of fighting had been filled with hundreds of horrifying images, desensitizing him. He carefully started to rush over to Chris to try and get him off the ground.

“Can you walk?” Paxton shouted as he aimed his rifle towards the dropship.

He knew that the other gunships would be making another pass soon and that they would have to move. Chris tried to get to his feet before the next gunships could approach for a fly-by.

“I think I should be fine,” Chris hissed, watching his hand continue to dangle. Paxton stared over to the southern front of the village which had still been clear of fighting. “What do we do?"

“Go back to the Kerrigan and wait for my orders.” he said finally.

Chris accepted the order without hesitation. There was nothing more he could do to assist now. With only one arm, he was already unable to use a rifle or any heavy-duty weaponry to fight back. While he dashed off, Paxton stared back towards the Temple that was still just barely standing from the barrage. He had to go in and try to find somebody still alive and possibly something to retaliate.

The dropship would cut down any rockets from where he stood now, and his only option would be having to get closer. While he started to navigate the smoldering interior of the Temple, his search had started to prove fruitless before even beginning. The few men he was able to spot had been in pieces or covered in flames.

Both rocketeers on the roof had been knocked off following the explosion, leaving one of their weapons in the heart of the Temple. He tried to navigate through the smoke and ember. Smoke burnt his eyes while the inferno continued to singe the hairs on his head. The pillaring flames had very quickly consumed the walls and climbed towards the ceiling.

Further into the structure and by one of the few remaining support columns, there was a loud series of cracks. Deeper into the fire, the beams keeping the upper floors suspended had started to break apart. Paxton finally navigated through and hold of the weapon before making his escape. The Temple finally buckled in, roaring as it collapsed to the ground—a final cry as the legacy of Nojuro and his family was demolished. A black cloud of smoke and soot raced outwards, making its way towards town.

Paxton tried to guide himself blindly through the smog and escape the destruction behind him. The UAZ was nearby. His hands eventually reached the trunk of the vehicle and trailed along the side toward the driver’s seat. The moment he got seated, he started the ignition and slammed his foot into the accelerator. All at once, the engine roared, causing the jeep to speed forwards and away from the debris. He punched his way through the smoke, finally being greeted by the sunlight.

Escaping a near-death situation had always felt rewarding, but it was still possible that he had just jumped out of the pan and into the fire. The dropship was a mile or so ahead, still giving his troops hell. He jerked the wheel towards it to try and began to move closer for a better shot.