Chapter 140: Manhattan Crisis - Part 7
Night had finally fallen over New York City.
But there was no peace.
The skyline was bathed in fire and chaos, tracer rounds streaked across the sky, distant helicopters thudded above like war drums, and sirens howled across boroughs already half in ruin. Manhattan had gone dark, a blacked-out husk lit only by blood-red lightning, evacuation floodlights, and the pulsing glow of battlefront command posts.
Inside a hardened command room on the edge of the operational zone, Léonard stood around a tactical table with O5-6, Graves, and Mei Lin. A secured audio link connected them directly to the other Overseers of the Council.
O5-6 leaned over the table, fingers dancing across the holographic display.
"Here's the current situation," he began.
"The anomaly's dome has expanded again. It's now covering several hundred more meters, dangerously close to the UN complex. That sector has become the hottest war zone in the city."
He tapped the west quadrant. Lights blinked.
"We have six MTF units there, reinforced by a full company of Nu-7, alongside Strike Teams, Assessment Teams, and standard GOC forces. They're holding for now. Most of the major GoIs have deployed reinforcements to this front as well. Much of Murray Hill is leveled. Combat is still ongoing."
He switched to the southern quadrant.
"On the southern front, heavy reinforcements, multiple MTF, the GOC, the NYPD, and US Army have enabled us to establish a stable defensive line stretching from SoHo to the Lower East Side, following Houston Street. It's holding."
He turned to the west.
"Omega-45 is still securing the Lincoln Tunnel, with strong support from US Armed Forces, Pentagram units and a unit from the Horizon Initiative. They're managing to maintain control, but the dome is getting dangerously close to breaching that sector."
Then finally, to the north.
"The northern front is where we've made the most progress. Resh-1, Alpha-1, and Omega-1 are spearheading the advance. All three MTFs have executed a mobile war doctrine clearing building by building or teleporting between rooftops. Nothing gets past them."
He paused, eyes narrowing.
"This is also the least damaged sector. Civilian evacuation has been overwhelmingly successful here. However, we've confirmed the presence of Chaos Insurgency operatives fighting side-by-side with SCP-2911-B instances. They're teleporting too."
Léonard clenched his fists. Mei Lin glanced at him briefly, silent but tense.
"Because of their mobility," O5-6 continued, "we're being forced to stretch our forces thinner, diverting units to protect the convoys and mobile clinics moving out."
Then his voice changed. A shade darker.
"And… some of the SCP-2911-B instances have… a method of teleportation that's-" he hesitated, then forced the words out, "-unique."
He didn't elaborate.
O5-6 exhaled slowly and muttered, "It's better if I just show you the footage."
He tapped a few times on his tablet. A video projection shimmered to life in the room.
[Classification: Audio Log - Emergency Deployment]
Personnel Present:
GoI Specialist – Dr. Justine Everwood
Strategic Liaison – Silver Krueger
Spatial Engineering Lead – Dr. Charlie Moose
Mobile Task Forces: Xi-13 "Sequeres Nos" & Pi-1 "City Slickers"
[Log Start – 23/07/2024 | 15:17 hours]
[The two Mobile Task Forces are seen retreating from West Village toward Site-28. Everwood and Moose are with them. The streets are in chaos, broken barricades, thick red fog overhead, the ground blanketed in grey ash. Visibility remains unnaturally clear despite the nighttime. No civilians in sight.]
[Moose: "This can't be Manhattan. This looks like a warzone. The stench… like sulfur and burnt copper. And the sky, what the hell happened?"]
[Krueger: "I was bracing for something closer to Vegas. This is… slightly better, in a way."]
[Everwood: "The creatures here aren't like contracted demons. They're not bound by rules or deals. These ones take orders, but they're merciless beyond reason."]
[Pi-1 Alpha (Team Leader): "Enough small talk. The portal instability threw you guys off course. You landed almost half a click north of the rendezvous. Fortunately we were passing by. That entire stretch is crawling with hostiles."]
[Xi-13 Alpha: "Check respirators. The ash levels are far above safe EVE exposure. If it gets in your lungs, you're done. No one's pulling out unless medically necessary."]
[Everyone tightens seals and checks gear. They begin moving southwest, toward SoHo.]
[Krueger: "Let's hope command gets a grip on this madness fast."]
[Moose: "…Hold on. You guys hear that beep?"]
[Pi-1 Beta: "Subway entrance! Something's moving! Get the holy water ready!"]
[A sudden flare of crimson light. A ghostly, translucent subway train bursts out of Christopher Street station. It's a dual-car formation with "HELL" as its destination. The entity screeches to a halt, emitting a high-pitched tone.]
[Incorporeal Transit Entity: "Hell's Kitchen Station. Temporary stop."]
[An instant later, over 400 demonic figures manifest around the patrol. The subway doors never open. The incorporeal train vibrates, then sinks back into the ground, releasing oily black smoke.]
[Incorporeal Entity: "Thank you for riding with Inferno Express."]
[Pi-1 Delta: "We lost the target! They're charging us!"]
[Pi-1 Fi: "What the hell even was that thing?!"]
[Moose: "Don't wait to figure it out, open fire!"]
[The firefight begins. The demonic entities are chaotic and disorganized, many attacking each other. Within minutes, the swarm is reduced to ash or in full retreat. The Foundation forces suffer no losses.]
[Krueger: "They came from Hell's Kitchen? That's, what, three kilometers north? Can't they read a fucking map ?"]
[Everwood: "If they had map skills, we'd already be dead. The real threat is the ones that think."]
[Xi-13 Alpha: "We're out of holy water. Fog's thickening. Based on past incursions, that's when these things start to multiply. We need to keep moving."]
[They reach the Hudson and West Houston Street intersection. Several flying entities with malformed wings screech overhead. Burned-out buildings line the area, symbols scrawled in chalk everywhere. The team sets up temporary defenses.]
[Xi-13-1 Kappa: "First time I'm in New York. Didn't think I'd be patrolling with an assault rifle and a demon problem. Found a survivor note, looks like people fled toward Midtown."]
[Xi-13 Delta: "Midtown's a slaughter pit. Went near there a few hours ago. No one's getting out of there. We're holding here."]
[Krueger: "The faster we fortify this zone, the sooner evac teams can move in. Let's focus on that."]
[Moose: "SoHo's clear enough for now. Forget the subway for the moment. Reinforce what's left of the barricades. The clerics from the Initiative will take over holding this area once they arrive."]
[Pi-1 Kappa: "Didn't think we'd be outsourcing this to prayer warriors."]
[Moose: "Prayer's as valid a weapon as any, if it works. We've locked down gods before. We can handle this. Now move, those things won't wait forever."]
[Xi-13 Beta: "…Contact. Movement up north. Big ones."]
[The camera turns to reveal several towering statues, around 10 meters tall, marching down Hudson. They are grotesque mockeries of historical figures, mostly Abraham Lincoln, all perched atop pedestals with insectoid legs. Each statue makes obscene gestures with its stone hands while skittering sideways.]
[Pi-1 Alpha: "Think holy water'll do anything to that?"]
[Xi-13 Delta: "We're gonna need explosives. Or an airstrike."]
[Moose: "Guess we're pulling an all-nighter."]
[The squad switches to heavier weapons and prepares to engage.]
[LOG TERMINATED]
Leonard stared at the screen, jaw slack.
"Wait… was that a train?"
O5-3 burst out laughing over the call.
"Even Hell has better public transportation than the U.S."
O5-1 immediately cut in, voice sharp.
"Shut it."
Leonard muttered, rubbing his temples.
"Great. As if the Insurgency wasn't already a massive pain in the ass, now we've got hellbirds and demons using ghost trains to fast-travel."
Suddenly, Leonard felt the familiar ping resonate inside his mind.
[Ding! You have received a private message from the Global Occult Coalition. Would you like to open it?]
He accepted.
GOC: Hey TA, bad news. The Security Council just voted to authorize the deployment of WMDs to deal with the New York situation.
SCP:F: What?!!
GOC: Yeah… I managed to secure a 48-hour grace period to evacuate as many as we can. But you and I both know what this means. What's your take?
SCP:F: There's no way we're letting this play out without trying everything first. We have to fix this.
GOC: I agree. But do you have any idea how?
There was a long pause.
SCP:F: I think I do. That Japanese diplomat… the one who explained the initial incident. If he read the script, maybe he knows how to end it.
GOC: I'm reaching out to him now.
A few minutes later…
GOC: Okay, TA, I just got clarification from him on how we might resolve this incident. We can open a portal from Backdoor SoHo to access the inside of the dome. An elite unit will be sent in to secure a perimeter for the researchers. Then, we'll conduct spatial engineering from both the inside and outside to open a gateway large enough to bring in heavy equipment. The idea is to establish a beachhead inside the dome itself. After that, we'll launch a full-scale counterattack against the Chaos Insurgency and that cocoon perched atop the Empire State Building.
Also… and I don't fully understand how… but apparently Dr. Alto Clef managed to strike a deal with an Archdemon, a domain mistress called Iblis, to help stop the incident. So we absolutely need him in the strike force. Do you have him?
SCP:F: About Clef… he's currently imprisoned in your facility.
GOC: …Wait, what? We imprisoned Clef??
SCP:F: According to the report, he got drunk off his ass, got into a fight, and smashed a bottle over one of your generals' heads.
GOC: …
SCP:F: Anyway. I suggest we set up a joint strategy meeting with our subordinates.
GOC: Agreed. I'll also invite Horizon Initiative and Prometheus Labs.
SCP:F: Prometheus Labs? Why them?
GOC: We're going to need massive logistical support in a very short amount of time, and I assume both of us have already burned through most of our supplies containing the initial wave.
SCP:F: Fair point. Let's set everything up. Meeting in one hour.
GOC: Alright. See you there.
---
In the heart of Yorkville district, the battle erupted like a storm made flesh. Operators from Resh-1 Group 4 moved like phantoms through the chaos, their footsteps barely audible on the cracked asphalt and blood-slick rooftops. They advanced with lethal grace, thaumaturgic runes flickering across their forearms, fueled by concentration and precision. Assault rifles barked controlled bursts into the dark, cutting through Chaos Insurgency vanguards like a scalpel through soft tissue. But it wasn't just bullets that danced through the night, it was lightning, arcing from fingers and eyes, slashing sideways like wrath incarnate.
One Resh-1 operator crouched beneath a shattered awning, then blinked out of sight, teleportation ruptured the air with a hum, and he reappeared behind a squad of Insurgents, his hands glowing with crackling purple light. A pulse erupted. Screams. Smoke. Ash. Silence.
Above him, another operator soared from one rooftop to another, his leap guided by a burst of kinetic thaumaturgy. Mid-air, he twisted his body and unleashed a volley of bullets that screamed as they sliced the wind. They impacted against makeshift Insurgency cover, dumpsters, conjured barricades, the shell of a burnt-out sedan, melting through steel like molten acid.
The Chaos Insurgents had brought demons with them. Red-skinned brutes with glowing sigils carved deep into their flesh. Their eyes burned like coals, and their clawed limbs tore through the facades of brownstones as they roared into the streets. One of them lunged, tearing a fire hydrant from the ground like a twig and hurling it toward a Resh-1 position.
But the operator raised a hand. The hydrant stopped mid-air, hovered, then crumpled into a compact sphere of twisted metal, crushed under the invisible grip of focused kinetic magic. The demon snarled. It didn't get the chance to do more. Three short bursts from a suppressed rifle struck its skull, neck, and spine. It dropped like a stone.
Another operator teleported mid-fall, blinking from the fifth story of a collapsing building directly behind two Insurgents. He fired before they could react, two shots, two corpses. Then he spun, extended his left arm, and unleashed a fork of lightning that coiled around a demon's arm, cooking flesh and bone until it dropped to its knees and exploded in a burst of boiling ichor.
The battlefield stretched for blocks. Explosions shattered windows and sent brick and debris flying. The night was a haze of smoke and thaumaturgic discharge, glowing sigils and screaming shadows. But Resh-1 was unrelenting. They moved like a single organism, silent, methodical, deadly. Always coordinated. Always five steps ahead.
One operator, perched on the ledge of a bakery, extended both hands. A sigil etched in his palm glowed as he conjured a barrier of spinning hexagons, deflecting a barrage of demonic fireballs raining down from the east. Another operator behind him countered with thaumic bullets, a whirling drill of pure energy that punched through a possessed Insurgency lieutenant and buried itself in the chest of the demon next to him. Both evaporated into flame.
From the north, four Chaos Insurgents attempted a flanking maneuver, using alleyways and replicated Foundation-issue gear. They never made it. A sniper round from an unseen operator took out the point man, while another thaumaturge landed on a nearby fire escape and detonated a fragmentation grenade The explosion sucked the air from the alley, and when the dust cleared, only silence remained.
The fight intensified. Demons now flew overhead, winged things with skeletal torsos and spears of jagged bone. One dove straight for a Resh-1 operative, shrieking like a banshee. The operator didn't flinch. He dropped his rifle, clenched his fists, and with a roar of foreign syllables, summoned a storm of violet bolts that shredded the creature mid-air.
A new wave of Chaos operatives emerged from a nearby apartment complex, led by a thaumaturge in blood-red armor. He raised both hands and invoked a ritual that twisted the very light around him. Shadows thickened. The wind stopped. Reality buckled.
But he was too slow.
A Resh-1 soldier surged forward through the haze, sliding under a descending bolt of black fire, leapt onto a parked van, and launched himself at the enemy caster. They collided mid-cast. The Resh-1 agent tackled him into the street, jammed a palm against his chest, and released a shockwave that ruptured his armor and spine in one stroke. The insurgent convulsed once then turned to dust.
The ground shook as a larger demon emerged, three meters tall, plated in obsidian, its arms ending in rotating blades of bone. It roared, sending a shockwave through the street, flipping cars and bursting windows. The operatives didn't fall back.
Instead, one of them broke into a sprint, his boots igniting with blue flame as he rushed the demon head-on. He slid between its legs, carving glyphs into the pavement with his fingertips as he passed. The moment he stood, the glyphs detonated, severing the demon's right leg in a blast of light. The creature fell forward, and another Resh-1 soldier teleported above it, slammed a rune-infused knife into its skull, and carved it in completely.
The city itself groaned. Lightning danced between buildings. Helicopters tried to circle the scene but were pushed back by thaumaturgic barriers summoned by both sides. Civilians had long since fled, but the echoes of their terror remained in the shattered silence between gunfire and lightning bolts.
Resh-1 surged forward, pushing the Chaos Insurgency remnants into a corner, herding them like wolves. The remaining demons grew desperate. One opened a portal into a sub-dimension, intending to retreat, but two operatives countered with a spell of interdiction that collapsed the gateway, trapping the demon between dimensions. It screamed until it vanished.
The final Chaos Insurgency warlock tried to make a stand atop a parking garage. He raised his staff, channeling dark energy into the sky, forming a swirling vortex. But as the storm built, five Resh-1 operators converged on him from five directions, teleporting in sync.
One fired a bolt of kinetic force that cracked his ribs. Another struck his staff arm with a projectile of compressed air, snapping bone. A third silenced his voice by playing his hand on his mouth. The last two didn't hesitate, they raised their rifles and shot him in his chest.
He died screaming, though no one heard.
Silence fell over Yorkville. The streets smoked. The air buzzed with the residue of unleashed power. The operators stood amidst the ruin, their silhouettes sharp against the still-burning skyline. None of them spoke. There was no need. Mission complete.
None were injured. None were even winded.
---
One hour later.
Inside a large, high-tech conference chamber within the UN Headquarters, dozens of elite GOC and SCP Foundation commanders filled the space. Researchers from both organizations were present, alongside armed members of the Horizon Initiative and representatives from Prometheus Labs.
Around the room, massive holographic displays showed live feeds of various Foundation leaders, some still stationed on Governors Island, others in undisclosed locations. At the center of the room stood DC, flanked by his two vice-directors. With them were the robed leader of the Horizon Initiative and the impeccably dressed CEO of Prometheus Labs.
DC adjusted his earpiece.
"TA, are you with us?"
A voice replied through the line:
"Yes. I'm here."
"Good," DC said. "Let's begin."
He stepped forward, voice steady, yet carrying the weight of urgency.
"As you all know, we are here to finalize the counteroffensive plan to end this invasion once and for all. First, we will insert an elite unit through the portal to escort engineers and scientists. Due to spatial instability, our only point of access remains the Backdoor SoHo anomaly. This first wave must establish a foothold inside the dome."
The leader of the Horizon Initiative leaned forward.
"How many personnel can we send?"
DC replied without hesitation.
"Fifty. Twenty of them are engineers. That leaves thirty for combat."
"Thirty soldiers to hold the line… That's not much," the Initiative's leader muttered.
DC nodded.
"Which is why we'll send only our most specialized anti-demonic units."
The Prometheus Labs CEO added, "Let's not forget the Chaos Insurgency is still inside. And judging by the situation, they've committed their best to this."
Suddenly, Leonard's voice cut in from a secure call feed.
"Then why not send a combined task force? Take the best from all of us. One elite strike team made of multiple factions."
DC nodded again.
"Excellent idea. That's what we'll do."
He brought up a projection showing a phased timeline.
"The operation will proceed in three phases," he announced.
Phase 1: Troops will enter the anomalous dimension through the Backdoor SoHo access point and establish a bridgehead.
Phase 2: Establishment of reliable supply lines and reinforcement pathways.
Phase 3: Elimination or banishment of UE-1111, the so-called juvenile god and destruction of the Chaos Insurgency's main forces within the dome.
DC tapped the screen, shifting the image to a digital map of New York engulfed by the ash dome.
"We've solved the route of entry. The bridgehead is mapped. But we've got another problem, the Black Ash Rain. More and more civilians are exposed. Inside the dome, the concentration must be off the charts. What do we do? We can't rely on hazmat suits forever."
The Prometheus Labs CEO raised a hand.
"Based on my researchers' analysis, the rain is a symptom of a deeper reality distortion. If we had a device, something compact, to neutralize that bend in reality…"
He turned to the black screen where Leonard's face remained hidden in shadow.
Leonard sighed.
"Understood. The Foundation will provide portable Scranton Reality Anchors. We'll also deploy vehicle-mounted SRA units for the heavier teams."
DC clapped his hands.
"Perfect. Next problem, supply lines and the retreat corridor."
The CEO nodded.
"Let us handle that. Just promise my employees won't be left to die."
"You have my word," DC said firmly.
"Now," he continued, his voice growing darker, "those damn demons. Inside the dome, they'll be stronger. Our conventional weapons might as well be water guns. You all need to prepare specialized gear. I'll lead the purge myself."
The Horizon Initiative's leader spoke up.
"We'll assist. Our people were born for this kind of war."
Leonard added, "The Foundation will focus on hunting down and neutralizing the Chaos Insurgency's forces within the dome."
DC raised both hands.
"Excellent. We'll leave the detailed planning to our sub-commanders. It's 8:30 PM. The operation begins at midnight."
He took a deep breath, then bellowed:
"GLORY TO HUMANITY, IT'S TIME FOR THESE DEMONIC SCUMS AND CHAOS INSURGENCY BITCHES TO HAVE A FREE TASTE OF OUR COUNTER-ATTACK!"
The entire room roared in unison.
———————
Short Chapter I know but im cooking the FINAL PART OF THIS ARC