"When there is a storm, are you the challenger or the destruction? "
As the rebel camps in the city welcomed the rising sun that shone across their ranks, Ulric followed the others in getting out of his makeshift bed made from a charred leather seat. While the others prepared their gear and ate whatever breakfast they can find, Ulric sat by his bed and analyzed the Swedish words carved in gold on his carbine. Casually, Ella soon approached Ulric and brought with her a portion of bread she got from a wrecked store.
[Ella] - "Bread? "
[Ulric] - "Bread. "
Said Ulric as he gave Ella a thumbs-up.
As Ella carelessly threw the bread into his brother's lap, Ulric suddenly signalled for her to come closer. At first glance, Ella was taken aback by the glorious depiction of Norse mythology carved on the surface of the carbine, which shone in the sun like liquid gold. Following Ulric's fingers, Ella's attention was brought to the small phrase written below the kraken rune of the 6th fleet.
[Ulric] - "I translated the words here in English. Apparently, the gun's previous owner is part of the Imperial 6th fleet, the Ice Kraken. Look here, it says: The colossus' reach knows no bounds, and we are his unyielding messengers. "
[Ella] - "So like, that's their motto? "
[Ulric] - "Heck yeah, that's fucking badass, don't you think? "
[Ella] - "Ugh, why do you get to keep the best shit? Look at me, I'm stuck here with a fucking service pistol. "
Said Ella, disgruntled.
[Ulric] - "Bruh, do you seriously think you can handle the recoil of this weapon? It's one .50 cal bullet per shot. Do you know how much kick this thing brings? "
With a side-eyed glance at the massive carbine in Ulric's hands, Ella rolled her eyes and dismissed her initial complaint. She might be whiny at times, but she's no pushover.
Meanwhile, aboard the titan, Ludovic's crew finally managed to get all the systems up and running. As the crew down in the generator room finished their final checks, they signalled to the bridge that the machine was ready to rise. With the message soon reaching the Gear Master, Ludovic finally breathed a sigh of relief. Placing a photo of his family on the side of his control panel, Ludovic allowed himself a second to savour his best memories.
[Ludovic] - "Let's end this revolution, men! All systems, report for duty! "
Commanded Ludovic to his men.
On the right side, the Left Weapon Master tested one last time his control before raising his thumb in the air.
[Left Weapon Master] - "Left side weapons, standing by! "
With each small station and different post quickly coming to life, the crewmen spread all around the right side of the machine reported back to their central command with confidence. Meanwhile, as the Right Weapon Master signalled to Ludovic about his readiness, the Com Master and Doom Master also followed with their own confirmations.
Finally, as the engines cranked up to their optimal output, the sleeping giant abruptly woke up, the blue light all across its body glowing up like that of an electric eel. In an earth-shaking rumble, the titan began to stand up as the massive gears within its body sprang to life. As dirt and rubble fell from its body, the people below ducked for cover while occasionally turning their heads to admire the God machine in its glory.
Behind the government tower's shield, the police force could only dread as the machine rose to heights even they had to see to believe it. This machine was doom incarnate, and it was then, its warhorns signalled its awakening within the city. In a deafening boom, the cries of an eldritch horror caused many officers to literally fall to their knees in submission, while others prayed to whatever Gods they believed in. Finally, as the thunder that concluded the scream rang across the city, windows were shattered in their millions while men covered their ears to no avail.
[Gear Master] - "The machine is ready, my lord. What are your commands? "
For a moment, even Ludovic was frozen in his shock at the sight before his eyes, but he quickly snapped out of his trance. With a determined look, Ludovic extended his arm and pointed at the government tower with fury.
[Ludovic] - "Make a turn toward the enemy's last bastion and charge up the main cannons! "
Yelled Ludovic, his repressed frustration finally vindicated by power in his hands.
With a nod, the Gear Master relayed the order to his men, who immediately made the necessary adjustment to begin the titan's movement. With the first step, the ground below trembled with the force of an earthquake so powerful it caused men and buildings to fall in their thousands.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Ulric watched the scene with the rest and cheered despite their wounded eardrums and unsteady steps. In complete ignorance, many men began to run or drive toward the shield's edge, hoping to be the first to storm the government tower once the shields failed. As Ulric and Ella were about to board such a convoy, a strong, bearded man abruptly pulled them from the overloaded back of the truck from the other fighters.
[Ulric] - "What the hell, man? Who the fuck are you? "
[Ella] - "Fucking let go of me, you fucking brute! Who are you? "
Screamed the two as the man effortlessly held them in the air with his massive arms.
[Brutus] - "Your father demanded that you two stay within the bunker! I was barely an hour late to watch over you two, and both of ya little bastards disappeared without a trace. "
Yelled the man in frustration before walking away with them.
Though Ulric and Ella tried their best to pull free, they were no match for the man's cybernetic arms and massive body. In one rough swing, Brutus threw both Ella and Ulric into the back of a van.
[Brutus] - "Don't take this personally, kids, I've got my orders too. As much as I admire your courage for going to the frontline, this just isn't a fight for two naive young adults. "
Said Brutus before shutting the door on them.
Before either of the two could start processing their situation, Brutus hit the gas on the van and drove away from the scene of the chaos. Due to the rough state of the road and the earthquake caused by the titan's movements, both Ella and Ulric were confined to the floor, unable to even remotely stand up. Though both of them were beyond frustrated with their predicament, there was simply nothing they could do to escape.
During this time, deep beneath the tower, Dane rushed through the hallway, followed by a robot girl he created. On her back, the robot girl carried a bag which contained Ari's unconscious body. Bursting through the main laboratory's entrance, Dane arrived at Kadyn's corner of confinement with such urgency, he almost dove headfirst into the wall.
[Kadyn] - "Dane? What's going on? "
[Dane] - "Don't be askin' questions now, girl, ya promised you'd be cooperative in the escape attempt. "
Muttered Dane as he cut apart the chains attached to Kadyn's limbs with a torch gun.
[Kadyn] - "But... OW! I was not expecting you to... Anyways, what's the plan? "
Said Kadyn as the melting of her ankle ring burned her skin.
[Dane] - "The plan is to fucking run like a damn lunatic once we get out of here. "
Just as Kadyn was about to ask another question, the ground around them suddenly shook violently as the titan took another step.
[Mike] - "Looks like Dane's planning to use the chaos outside to get us out of here. "
Said Mike as he phased through the wall.
[Kadyn] - "I'm seriously confused, what the fuck is going on? "
Screamed Kadyn at Mike.
[Mike] - "There is an active rebellion going on in the city. Seriously, congratulations, it seems they all got inspired by your little endeavour. The women are all trying to look like you, while the men are going crazy with the cyberknight runes. They seem to bloody hate your sister as much as you do. "
Said Mike as he casually leaned against the wall.
[Kadyn] - "You can move around like a ghost and see stuff? "
[Mike] - "Shocker! I AM a bloody ghost! "
Exclaimed Mike while pointing at himself.
[Kadyn] - "Also, what the hell is going on outside? Don't tell me I accidentally started a cult. Oh, god bless these people... my bloody sister is going to commit genocide. "
Said Kadyn in an annoyed voice.
[Dane] - "Who da hell are ya talkin' to? "
Exclaimed Dane with a confused look.
[Kadyn] - "The ghost of my husband, obviously! Can't you see him? "
Dane paused, looked at the void beside Kadyn, before turning toward Kadyn with a baffled look on his face.
[Dane] - "Ya better not go crazy mid-away through our escape, partner! Cause I ain't seen a damn thing over there! "
Cursed Dane before going back to finishing off the chains around Kadyn's left hand.
[Mike] - "He can't see me, it seems. I suppose I won't need to hide anymore when wandering around. "
[Kadyn] - "Ugh... Now I'm wondering if I'm sane or not. "
As soon as the chains on Kadyn's arm fell, she immediately extended her wrist blade and cut off the other chains holding her limbs. Then, as swiftly as she got out, Kadyn grabbed Mike's coat lying on the ground and wrapped her naked body in it. With a sigh of relief, Kadyn appreciated the feeling of being clothed once more.
[Kadyn] - "You'll take that mental image of my body down to the grave, Dane, you got that? "
Said Kadyn as she stared at Dane with hostility in her eyes.
[Dane] - "I promise. However, I ain't gonna lie, your husband's a damn lucky man. "
[Kadyn] - "Yeah, you bet he is. "
Said Kadyn while throwing a smirk in Mike's direction.
In response, Mike grinned while crossing his arms. However, no respite can be afforded in such a situation, as Dane waved at Kadyn to follow him. As they ran, they noticed how perfect the storm was, as no one was even paying the group any attention in their panic. Blending into the crowd of fleeing workers and scientists, the five of them snuck past many guards before reaching a massive door which gave access to the higher levels.
However, as the group arrived at the door, they soon noticed that KD-554 had intentionally shut the door down to prevent her men from escaping. While desperate crowds banged against the unmoving doors and trampled each other to death, Kadyn and Dane knew they had to use a different route. However, neither of them knew the facility well enough to know any possible alternative path to take. But luckily for them, KD-554 was too distracted with the show in the city to notice their escape.
Meanwhile, as the titan finally reached its final position, Ludovic ordered his men to fire the cannons. As the Right Weapon Master took priority in the attack, he immediately issued a firing solution of 7500 kilotons of power. Under the Ragnarok siege cannon, the operators made the final adjustments to the weapon at a slow pace due to their unfamiliarity with the controls. Gradually, a blinding glow crawled up to the bore from the cannon's depths before a raging red beam smashed against the government tower's shields.
On the other side, KD-554 simply watched without flinching from her balcony as the massive beam painted the skies crimson. The shields will hold for now, but it was clear from the panics within the control staff that they won't hold for long. On the ground, the massive heatstorm kicked up by the dissipated plasma travelled downward and annihilated all matter with the ferocity of the sun. All the unfortunate rebels travelling toward the shield didn't even get the chance to scream before they were wiped from history without a trace.
Afar, even as Brutus' vehicle was at least a kilometre away from the blast center, the shockwave proved enough to flip the van on its back. On the other side of the shield, the police force, upon witnessing the power of a single blast from the Storm-class titan, immediately fell into a state of panic. Cohesion broke down as policemen all ran for their lives in different directions. To them, there was simply no point in standing against a weapon of such calibre. It was as if God had decided to stomp his foot on humanity. The police and even their SWAT cousins, when realizing that the shields around them would not let them leave, could only collectively kneel and submit to the titan while pleading for mercy.
On board the titan, the Left Weapon Master soon ordered his men to fire their main calibre. As the same preparation process concluded beneath the left cannon, the same glow of doom soon leaped out of its tube, smashing against the shields of the tower with violence. By this point, the shields were failing as the dim blue light representing the shield's coverage began to flicker, indicating that most of the generators were overheating.
By now, the police force on the ground no longer panicked or tried to run as they all kneeled before the titan and prayed to it as if it were a God. The sight, the sounds, and the power experienced by these men were simply beyond what their minds could comprehend. As the titan recharged its guns for the finishing shot that would end KD-554's tyranny, one single figure finally stepped out of the shadows into the light.
While all the policemen kneeled in prayer, a single tall figure in his ceremonial armour walked between them. As one of the SWAT members looked up, he saw a man– a God standing where everyone kneeled. Even though Astroboy looked nothing like a God, his presence sent an empowering aura down the souls of the men around him. Just by their proximity to him, policemen previously cowering in fear somehow found the strength to stand up once more.
[Astroboy] - "Your loyalty to the truth of human nature granted you the right to survive today's apocalypse. Your fear is your ignorance, and your faith is your gift. You will not kneel to a false God– A mere tool created by real Gods to punish those unworthy of their mercy. Stand! All of you shall stand knowing one of those Gods is standing behind you. "
Said Astroboy as his voice seemingly pierced through the minds of every man, no matter the distance.
With a gesture of his hand, the glow from Astroboy's crystals drew the men's attention like moths to a lamp. Gradually, from regular officers to SWAT members, each man began to rise from their knees as if inspired by an unknown force. Their eyes shifted toward Astroboy as their souls instinctively felt the true force of nature worthy of their fear and worship.
[Astroboy] - "When this shield drops, when I have shown the pretenders the wrath they deserve, you shall charge and decimate the unfaithful on the other side. There will be no mercy, no redemption, nor future for the parasites! Burn their elders alongside their history, bury the adults alongside their ideas, and massacre their children alongside their future! "
Said Astroboy coldly without a hint of humanity in his glassy eyes.
Yet, despite the inhumanly cruel words spoken by their prophet, the policemen, many with families of their own, wept in awe. They couldn't reason with the logic given to them by Astroboy; they could only accept the words that directly spoke to their souls as truth. Many wanted to kneel, but were surprised to realize they couldn't. Astroboy ordered them to stand, and they will comply.
At a steady pace, Astroboy began to rise into the sky until it was on level with the titan's bridge. Yet, when none of the machine's defences paid him any attention, Astroboy simply extended a single one of his fingers until it touched the titan's shields.
[Astroboy] - "Damnation's Reach: Entropy of Human Perfection! "
Within an instant, a monstrous shockwave outright destroyed 70 of the titan's 75 shield generators. To the crew of the Skymningkoloss, the dot they had ignored on their screen had seemingly produced a shock powerful enough to cause the titan to stumble and everyone to fall out of their seats. Soon, the sound of the blast reached the city, literally reducing solid buildings to a duststorm with its power. Such is the power of a cyberknight of Astroboy's level, beings of incomprehensible power that even God machines such as the Storm-class titans would fear.
[Ludovic] - "What the hell happened? "
Yelled Ludovic in shock.
Yet, as he looked down at his crew for an explanation, they could only stare back at him with the same confusion and shock he wore on his face. No one within the confines of Trump City witnessed the cyberknights' raw power in such a fashion. At first, Ludovic and his men thought they were invincible. Now, they faced the wrath of a God– not just in a metaphorical sense as the titan, but an actual walking God with the power to end humanity as a whole.
[Doom Master] - "Your orders, lord Ludovic? "
Asked the Doom Master in a shaking voice.
Yet Ludovic was silent as his feeble brain couldn't process the possibility of what had just occurred in front of his eyes. Before him, a zoomed-in video feed showed him the sight of Astroboy, who was staring back at him with his arms tucked behind his back. By removing his helmet, Astroboy showed Ludovic his face. Yet, anyone seeing the same footage as Ludovic saw not a man, but an entity that strikes a primal fear in their souls.
[Right Weapon Master] - "Lord Ludovic, please! GOD! Please give us an order, sir! "
Yelled the man in a voice mixed with panic and fear.
The voice finally snapped Ludovic out of his trance as he shakingly lowered his hand back onto his controls. Yet, as Astroboy opened his mouth to speak, his voice seemingly ignored all forms of barriers or distance and reached the ears of every single crewman.
[Astroboy] - "This is a machine created by Gods as a tool for humans to fight. You might not be familiar with these divine beings I speak of, yet you've seen one in action. I hold the power to annihilate a continent and render it sterile for a thousand years. Unlike nuclear bombs, my fist is perfect, flawless, and precise in its strike. "
Said Astroboy calmly in a cold voice.
Ludovic's breathing intensified as fear crawled across his body like the legs of a thousand spiders. Though Astroboy stood at such a distance, Ludovic, like many others, could feel his breath hitting their faces as if he were standing right before them.
[Astroboy] - "Sinners such as yourselves are not safe. You chose the defy your nature and transgress the laws imposed on you by your ruler. Your loved ones, your family, they are not safe. You are worms, meaningless in your struggle and helpless against the endless sky above you. "
Said Astroboy as trace amounts of hate mixed into his cold voice.
[Ludovic] - "AAAAAHHH! "
Cried Ludovic as he held his face in fear.
All around him, all cohesion broke down as men and women alike cried in fear and mutilated their bodies to make the voices stop.
[Astroboy] - "Look above you, know that I could collapse the sky onto you and expose you to the horror of the endless darkness beyond. Repent for your sins. Repent for your denial! REPENT FOR YOUR IGNORANCE! End your own life before I enact my judgment upon you! "
Muttered Astroboy as his hate leaked into his words.
Many of the crew, broken by the threats made by Astroboy, calmly found themselves a weapon, which they used to end their own lives. Meanwhile, those who did not partake in their suicide remained catatonic as their minds shattered under their fear and dread. As soon as Astroboy uttered his final words, the titan's system fell silent as all the crewmen within either succumbed to their fear or their wounds.
As the titan fell silent, the tower's shields also lowered to let loose the armies of fanatical policemen. Inspired by the touch of Astroboy's words, these men were different from the forces that fled the rebels yesterday. With their humanity suppressed, these monstrous men with madness in their eyes slaughtered anything that moved through the city.
As the crazed hordes of policemen arrived at the gates of different rebel fortifications in the city, they launched themselves with total abandon at the frontline. Many places which didn't expect such madness soon fell as the policemen decorated their uniforms in the blood of their enemy. Either through weapons or bare hands, each policeman sought nothing more than to paint the streets red with blood.
At one checkpoint, a group of rebels valiantly resisted the horde, but were soon overwhelmed as a police van suicide crashed into the makeshift gate, killing himself to allow his men to pour into the resistance's camp. What ensued was beyond the scope of a bloodbath. Even when faced with cowering children, the SWAT members mercilessly reduced them into piles of gore before raising their blood-soaked faces to scream.
[SWAT officer] - "Blood for the Red Truth, hell for the faithless! "
Yelled the crazed man alongside his comrades.
Anywhere the hordes of mad policemen went, a path drenched in red will follow. They massacred, mutilated and burned all their enemy, each unable to understand the evil being committed. They believed that savagery is the truth of humanity, and blood must flow to appease the Gods of hate, being Astroboy and KD-554.
As the evening arrived, all that could be heard within the city was the horrifying screams of the police hordes, all chanting: "Blood for the Red Truth, hell for the faithless! ". Meanwhile, with the titan returned to a dormant state, a splinter of the mad policemen soon reached the titan's feet and began to climb up its structure. Though many fell to their death in their climb, many also reached the access points dispersed across the titan's body. In their thirst for blood, the officers who managed to storm into the titan's insides began to systematically murder every crewman still alive but stuck in a state of shock.
As the bloodshed continued below, Astroboy confidently returned to meet KD-554 back on her balcony. Upon landing, Astroboy raised his chin as a sign of superiority as he turned around to watch the carnage below.
[KD-554] - "You didn't even use your more violent ability to win that fight. Quite disappointing if you ask me. "
Said KD-554 as she handed a glass of wine to Astroboy in appreciation.
[Astroboy] - "I have nothing to prove in terms of raw strength, as I have mastered this vector a long time ago. The development of my ability expanded my capabilities, resulting in an outcome that pure violence could never achieve. "
Said Astroboy coldly as he accepted the glass.
[KD-554] - "And that's why I shall compliment your work. You forced the philosophy of my Red Truth down people's throats so perfectly, I simply can't find a single officer not doing his part below. "
Said KD-554 as she raised her glass toward Astroboy for a toast.
[Astroboy] - "Such achievement also places me above my cyberknight brethren. For the first time in history, a cyberknight managed to influence the mind and not just the physical. I achieved horizons unknown even to those who see themselves as above me. "
Said Astroboy with a hint of disdain in his voice.
Strangely, Astroboy, instead of clinking his glass with KD-554, simply gripped his glass tighter with hints of buried anger in his grip. Yet, KD-554 didn't get frustrated with him as she understood what Astroboy was expecting.
[KD-554] - "And that's why you are the best among the order. They looked down upon you, those ignorant fools, thinking themselves superior to you, especially that... FUCKING whore-loving disgrace of a creature named Mike, who sacrificed his dignity to fuck an inbred pile of dogshit. Hehe... how could such a shitstain in society ever compare to your greatness? "
Said KD-554 as her rage occasionally overtook her words.
Satisfied with the praise, Astroboy smiled coldly before clinking his glass with KD-554. Together, the two watched silently as the world below burned and drowned in blood.
To be continued...