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War of the Fallen year ?

"Forward!" I urge across the coms as the convoy rumbles forward, with the north star guiding us. My bulwark's HUD tells me that the Auxila reinforcements are just ahead of us. And behind us I can still hear Amanda and the Valkyries battling Wu. The man from earth is no longer pursuing us, so that means Amanda has fought him to a deadlock. And as for Nock, she's nowhere on my sensors, having made her escape in good time. Everything is going according to plan.

We very well might survive this.

My Auxila troopers form a spearhead around me as they clear out the lesser Fallen trying to intercept the convoy. Nothing any of us can't handle. Further sacrifice seems unnecessary if we can keep this up. The trucks shift into low gear and begin to struggle their way up a steep incline. The HUD tells me that once we crest the incline, we should be standing directly over where the Auxila reinforcements are meeting the rest of the refugees.

"Amanda," I report over the secure line, "We've almost made it."

No reply.

"Can you read me?" I ask with renewed urgency.

"Busy now." Amanda croaks back hurriedly before the line on her end goes dead.

I turn my eyes to the sky and see Amanda and Wu dogfighting at speeds I can barely keep track of. Both of them blaze across the sky like shooting stars, moving too fast for the rest of the Valkyries to keep up with. The Valkyries occasionally try to back Amanda up by taking potshots at Wu, but with his immunity to ranged attacks, Amanda might as well be fighting by her lonesome. There's a bright flash of light whenever the pair of them clash in deadly melee, but neither of them seems to be able to get the upper hand so far.

I should be up there with Amanda. My lover needs me.

I swallow hard and return my attention to the road. Amanda wanted me to lead the convoy, and if that's what will help her, then that's what I will do. To keep faith with her. I know what's it like to let down someone who had once believed in you. The consequences were painful, and not something I would want to repeat.

The trucks rattle in protest as we reach the peak of the incline and I signal the Auxila to advance forward with me. We need to ensure that the way forward is clear so that the link up with the reinforcements goes smoothly.

"GAH!" one of the troopers that was just ahead of us screams in shock the moment he crests the peak.

"What is it?" I snap, roused to full alertness, "More Fallen?" I pick up the pace, rushing to join my men and when I reach the top of the incline, my mouth goes completely dry.

Before us is a charnel pit. That's the only word to describe it. The entire ground is covered in dead refugees, slaughtered where they stood. Scattered among the corpses are the wrecks of bulwarks, the reinforcements that Amanda had sent us to meet. But the piece de resistance is the center of the killing field. An inverted cross had been crudely erected, with an Auxila nailed to it in a macabre reenactment of the crucifix. A pair of men in the garb of conscripts stand at the base of the inverted cross, making conversation. My sensors lock on to the duo and I catch snatches of what is being said.

" - I don't like it." the older, gentlemanly looking man says, "This is just cruel."

"Its called sending a message." the younger one replies, his back turned to me, but I can tell he's just barely old enough to be conscripted, "You got to have a sense of spectacle and keep it simple at the same time, you know."

"Take him down!" the older man demands, "Enough is enough."

"Go ask Wu." the young man laughs, "He liked the idea."

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" I bark from my external speakers and note with some satisfaction that the pair are clearly startled.

"Huh. That's a voice I recognize." the young man muses as he turns to face me.

"Don?" I remark in surprise. I had not expected his unit to be the one that was supposed to meet us.

"That's your father." the older man rebukes, but there's a note of resignation in his voice.

"No. He's not." Don smirks, "You should really get with the program Jas. Your hands are already dirty."

"Did both of you do this?" I demand, fear knotting my gut, as understanding dawns on me, "Explain yourselves!"

But neither Don or his friend Jas bother to answer. Instead the duo summon their bulwarks and draw weapons.

"Bang." Don declares as he opens fire with his auto pistols, "You're dead!"

A withering wave of gunfire tears across my troopers and they topple forward, overwhelmed by what should have been a negligible attack. The other one, Jas, blasts off straight into our lines with his sword drawn, moving at barely possible speed. As my troopers begin to get scythed down without a chance to even react, the last pieces of the puzzle fall into place. Don and his friend are like me as well. Men from earth.

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And through Don, the Directorate had eyes on me from the very start. Don might have been formally referred to as my son, but we were never close. He was not biologically mine after all. We just stayed out of each other's way and I did not question where Don would sometimes disappear to. I had Diana's other children to care for. The warning signs were ignored and now I was paying the price.

I hurriedly bring up my dual swords to block Jas's attack, the impact sending my bulwark skidding backward. As the last of my troopers fall to bullet and sword, Don takes off into the air and flies overhead, heading in the direction of the refugees in the trucks. There are screams of terror as Don executes a strafing run on the helpless refugees, gunning them down as they try to run. As Jas pulls his sword out of the metal carcass of one of my troopers, he addresses me almost regretfully.

"Sorry it had to come to this." Jas says, "I'll try to make it as quick as possible."

"I'm sorry too." I reply, dual swords at the ready.

On earth I was one of the Elect, a mortal chosen to stand over his fellow man. The skin I wear today may be different, but the soul, the person I truly am, remains the same. The bulwark provides me with a connection to the divine energy that circulates in this world. And most crucially of all, something neither Don nor Jas have taken into account -

Denial fields do not exist in this world.

With a single thought, a halo of light erupts around me and I feel a rush of strength flow into my bulwark. Jas brings his sword down on me two handed, with enough force to shatter my weapons. But I easily parry the blow with the flat of one of my blades and push back, sending my opponent staggering off balance. To my surprise, Jas does not try to regain his stance or escape. Instead he sinks to his knees, groaning incoherently through his bulwark's external speakers.

That's never happened before, even back on earth. I've fought awestruck opponents before, but no one got shell shocked just after a single exchange. I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth though. I am about to finish off the vulnerable Jas when my blessings scream a warning to me of a threat coming from the sky. My augmented instincts take over and I dodge to the side, barely in time, as the ground is torn apart by one of Don's strafing runs. I hear the roar of Don's engines as he flies low, firing his auto guns in a continuous barrage, trying in vain to score a hit.

"Stay still, damn you!" Don snaps angrily, his guns constantly spitting lead.

I decide to oblige my so called "son". Standing firmly on the ground with both legs widely spread, I face off against Don as he enters another steep dive in preparation for his next attack. Planting both swords blade first in the muddy soil, I extend one of my palms out as Don zeroes in on me.

"My faith is my shield." I intone and my halo grows even more intense. Another volley of shots comes flying at me but this time they impact harmlessly against the halo, held firmly in midair. Don quickly veers back upward into the sky in alarm but I don't give him the chance to recover.

"And my faith is my sword!" I declare and slash with my outstretched arm. The halo explodes outward in a shockwave of force and slams into Don, sending him in a mad corkscrew through the sky. As Don's bulwark grows progressively more mangled, its jets fail completely and he crashes into the ground like a pile of bricks, smoke streaming off the ruined machine. Silence reigns in the aftermath and I hear the spent rounds Don fired at me drop into the soil with soft thumps.

I pick up my swords and stride to where Don crash landed and he makes an abortive attempt to get back to his feet. But a tortured groan emits from his bulwark coupled with small tongues of flame from the breaches all over its hull. Don faceplants back into the mud and claws at my feet impotently. Already the damage I inflicted on him is beginning to repair itself. Amanda was right when she said the Directorate wielded divine power in this world.

"I couldn't be a father to you Don," I sigh in regret, "but at least I can avenge you." I raise my sword to end this.

Hello Savan.

A name that I had not heard in a long time. My body abruptly lurches forward as a sharp pain erupts in my torso.

I would recognize your halo anywhere.

I look down and realize in horror that there's a sword protruding from my torso, spearing me through the machine itself.

Hey, do you still think I'm cute?

I turn and see Jas's bulwark standing before me, both arms at his sides. My vision swims as the HUD screams that my vital signs are dropping.

I always wanted to ask, what did you feel when I killed your fiancé?

With the last of my strength, I swing both my swords at Sheryl as she stands defenseless before me. My blades bite deep, and both of us fall simultaneously. So this is it then? Silence is the only answer I receive.

Which is then broken by the crash of a thrashed bulwark landing nearby.

"Annoying." Wu grumbles as he hovers in the sky, "And Sheryl just managed to fully wake up too."

Amanda blindly gropes on the ground, her claymore broken and her machine covered in cruel wounds. Wu delivers a single stroke with his chains on Amanda, sending her into a paroxysm of pain.

"Yeah. Shame that." Don gasps as his machine staggers back up, "Might be for the best though, seeing how lover boy already has another woman. Sheryl might die of an aneurysm or something if she saw this."

"At least her host is still alive, if the sensors are correct." Wu huffs, "Sheryl's probably gone into hibernation, built a barrier around her psyche to prevent complete soul collapse. Jasvinder's not likely to remember much about tonight when he comes to."

"You want me to break the news? A bit of shock therapy?" Don asks as he kicks me hard in the gut.

"No. Sheryl will be in a very delicate state." Wu disagrees, "Better to slowly acclimate Jasvinder again and let Sheryl steadily become more dominant. Don't mention the truth of Kuat senior to her either, not for now at least. The trauma might rebound. We don't want that to happen."

"Aye, aye." Don affirms lightly and levels his guns at me, "So what do we do now?"

"Both of you can die!" Amanda shrieks as she kicks off the ground and rushes straight at Wu.

But Wu's chains coil around her legs like razor wire, neatly slicing them off. Amanda lands on the ground again, babbling madly.

"We finish these two off." Wu shrugs, "Then search for the Saint. She's somewhere within the convoy. I know it."

Amanda makes a choked sob and her hand quests out, searching for me. I reach out as well and our fingertips touch, for a moment that feels like eternity.

"Sounds good." Don says affably, "Let's get to it then."

The thunder of Don's guns resound in my ears and my back is flayed open. Breathing becomes difficult and the HUD screams unhelpful warnings. Amanda's hand clenches mine as Wu smashes her spine with a single blow. My vision dims and the only thing I can see is the north star shining down on us. In the distance, I hear the cries of the refugees and the noise of slaughter.

In the end, I couldn't save anyone.

Everyone, I'm sorry.