The calmness of the ocean was violently disturbed by the passage of massive metallic cylinders surging toward the surface. As the first tube emerged, it quickly ignited its propellant charge and streaked toward the sky. Then, one after another, more and more nuclear missiles broke through the water surface before taking flight toward outer space. It was the fiery end embraced by those in charge, indifferent to the opinion of those on the receiving end, even their own citizens and homeland.
Over the Philippines, the crew of an Imperial cruiser belonging to the 14th Fleet immediately noticed the bright streaks in the sky. However, as their sensors remained muted to the launch, they quickly realized that the attack wasn't meant for them. Yet, after a quick calculation of the missiles' pathway, the worried crew immediately established contact with the ships of the 3rd Fleet.
Meanwhile, in Dallas, while the foot soldiers of the 3rd Fleet deployed to take over the occupation of the city from the elite Marines, Cassiel went around the battlefield to assess the damage done to the city. As Chief Commissar of the 2nd Company, it is his duty to account for and report the events that occurred involving his forces. With his tablet in hand, Cassiel marched past a Hypersonic-class tank, followed by a row of imperial infantry all displaying the symbol of the 3rd Fleet on their shoulder plates.
Cassiel looked at the symbol attached to the left side of his collar, displaying the image of a one-eyed diamond surrounded by two pairs of wings and five arrows pointing downward. It was meant to show Michele and the order of the Cyberknights as they commanded retribution against the world below. Out of the Emperor's many sons and daughters, Michele alone stands as his favourite. The 3rd Fleet, as denoted by its name, was the exemplar of the Imperial power, Michele's weapons and angels, and the mirror of the divine and noble standard displayed by the archangel himself.
With a proud smile, Cassiel brushed the dust off his symbol and carried on with his duty. However, just as the air was getting a bit too quiet and peaceful, a sudden alarm sounded within Cassiel's helmet. In shock, he turned around and noticed how every single man around him also received the same alert as him.
"Code Black! All Imperial personnel, evacuate the area immediately! Find a transport and return to the cruiser at gathering points A, B, C, and D. Nuclear impact in minus 15 minutes! I repeat, evacuation order under Code Black! "
Announced the cruiser's captain over the radio.
Code Black; never did Cassiel expect to hear such a terrifying directive that denoted a nuclear attack. He thought the Americans would simply stop the unnecessary bloodshed. Instead, those in charge were mad enough to turn their deadliest arsenal against their own people and lands in the hopes of taking the invaders with them to the grave. It was vile to the highest degree, a crime against humanity that disgusted Cassiel to his core.
In an orderly fashion, Cassiel watched as fleet soldiers and Marines all gathered at the designated points. However, all around them were confused civilians, all unaware of the doom that awaited them. There was a flash, then the image of a burning and screaming populace manifested in Cassiel's mind. A look of shock immediately appeared on Cassiel's face as he rushed into the crowd, while connecting his com to the ship captain.
[Cassiel] - "Listen to me! Your own government has launched a nuclear attack against this country! This city is under attack; you must all alert the others and move toward the evacuation point! "
Yelled Cassiel in a hurry before turning away to speak to the captain over the com.
Behind him, the confused populace immediately melted into a panicked crowd storming frantically toward the evacuation zones.
[Cassiel] - "Captain! There are still countless civilians left in this city! We cannot simply evacuate ourselves and leave them to their fate! "
Yelled Cassiel while running toward one of the stationed titans.
[Captain] - "Chief Commissar, we do not have enough time to fully evacuate our forces and the populace of this city! 14 minutes is simply too little time for us to do anything! "
Cassiel pushed past a few frantic civilians running past him and looked up at the titan.
[Cassiel] - "The cruiser's shield is rated for 75 simultaneous nuclear strikes, right? Bring the cruiser down near the ground and cast the shield over the ground! We can move the population under the protection of the cruiser! "
Said Cassiel as his system automatically paired with the titan's radio.
The captain clenched his fists and looked out of his window toward the sky with a concerned expression. Then, with a quick scan below, he noticed the masses of people gathering at evacuation zone B. Most of the city is still unaware of the impending doom to come.
[Captain] - "Do not order me around, Commissar! Dallas is a city with over a million people and about 55 kilometres across! Even if I brought the ship down, the cruiser only covers about 800 meters in length. Even the fleet's mother carrier, with its size, wouldn't be able to save this catastrophe! "
[Cassiel] - "We can at least try to save as many as we can! If the National Empire only knows how to save its own skin in those situations, then where is our credibility? What are we fighting for? What differs us from the honourless swine who launched those nukes? "
Screamed Cassiel, angered by the Captain's reluctance to act.
The Captain gritted his teeth, looked at the sky warily again, before turning toward his chief of operations. The captain noticed how many of the crew were staring at him, all eagerly awaiting his decision.
[Captain] - "Descend the ship to 100 meters above ground and modify the magnetic drive to cast the shield over as large of an area as possible! Change the primary battery to interception mode against the incoming attack, on the double! "
[Operation officer] - "Yessir! "
Saluted the officer before immediately passing commands to the different crew sectors of the bridge.
Satisfied with the result, Cassiel turned to the titan and began to issue his next order.
[Cassiel] - "Venerable titan of the Chosen, hear me, this is Marine Chief Commissar Cassiel! This is an urgent mission! Forget authority, forget protocols, you need to immediately move around the city and spread the evacuation order to the populace! Pass this message to your fellow titans; this is a matter of humanity, of honour! Do you copy? "
Cassiel waited, not daring to breathe as he looked at the giant machine. For what felt like an eternity, the machine remained silent as a statue, until its head shifted slightly in acknowledgement.
[Titan Commander] - "Received! We'll do our best, Chief Commissar! "
With incredible power, the titan bent down before leaping across entire neighbourhoods toward the North of the city. Above, the missiles reached the upper atmosphere and began to detach from their booster rockets. Like a rain of iron, hundreds of missiles did the same as they began to descend from their orbit around Earth. 10 minutes left before impact.
[Cassiel] - "Gather as much of the civilian population toward the underside of the cruiser! We need to save as many as we can! "
Ordered Cassiel to a group of fleet soldiers.
With a salute, these brave men quickly scattered around the town square, alerting the population to the impending armageddon. On the other side, seeing what Cassiel was doing, Hubris also decided to act as he stepped out of his gunship and invited a few young girls to take his place.
[Hubris] - "The rest of you, either return to the ship as cowards or stay and uphold the Angel's words! "
Said Hubris as he turned toward a dozen of his men.
Almost with hesitation, the Marines gave up their places to let regular civilians embark. However, despite Cassiel's best effort, their reach was simply too limited with the time they were given. By now, thousands of worried civilians gathered under the shadow of the cruiser, with thousands more moving toward safety. Despite the Marines and soldiers' best effort to ensure orderly evacuation, many civilians were still trampled underneath the boots of the panicked mob.
As a young boy, separated from his parents, fell between the sea of moving legs, he came face-to-face with the body of an unfortunate soul trampled to death under the sea of frantic steps. He yelled, but was immediately kicked in the back of the head before he could even properly feel fear. With blood rolling down his head and a dizzy vision, he was about to become another statistic of this cruel day until the Chief Medical Marine pulled him off the ground onto his shoulder.
With eyes as sharp as those of a hawk, the Marine reached into the sea of civilians and pulled out a poor woman buried under the steps. However, he didn't have the time nor the mood to be gentle as he tossed her to the sidewalk, leaving her bleeding as she limped toward safety with the rest. After scanning the crowd, the Marine again reached in and lifted a well-built gym instructor. This time, he carried the panicked man to the side, where he tossed him to the ground before shoving the injured boy into his arms.
[Chief Medical Marine] - "Carry this boy to safety, you have the muscle! GO! "
Yelled the Marine, prompting the man to jolt up and run away with the boy in his arms.
Yet, despite the effort of his fellow men, Cassiel knew the edges of the city were still none the wiser to the situation. Above, the missiles began to enter the atmosphere, their tips burning bright red as they began their terminal phase. Looking around, Cassiel saw a gunship taking off. Without thinking twice, he leapt onto the craft and ascended by barely holding onto a weapon mount.
[Hubris] - "Cassiel! "
Screamed Hubris as he ran toward the Commissar, but he was already too high up to come back down by this point.
Inside, the pilot was abruptly shaken to his core as Cassiel knocked violently against the hull. In a panic, he looked out to see Cassiel hanging from the wing's empty weapon mount.
[Cassiel] - "Give me a lift to the South side of the city, quickly! "
Yelled Cassiel over the com.
With a nod, the pilot quickly diverted his craft toward the South side of the city. Looking down, Cassiel passed over street after street of confused onlookers until he reached an area where people still seemed to be hiding or going about their daily business. Scanning the environment, Cassiel chose a furniture store where he decided to land.
One moment ago, the clerk was simply scrolling on his phone, and the next, a half-ton supersoldier crashed into his store, smashing through several sections of beds and kitchen accessories before coming to a stop by crashing into the mattress display. Getting up from the debris, still unscathed, Cassiel was about to walk until he received a transmission from Hubris.
[Hubris] - "Cassiel! You damn fool! There are barely 5 minutes left until impact! "
Screamed Hubris in equal measure anger and worry.
[Cassiel] - "The lives of these people matter more than my own! This is why I became a Marine, to serve, to fight for a better tomorrow! "
Said Cassiel with a smirk as he burst through the dust toward the front desk.
[Hubris] - "I thought you were smarter than this, you moronic little man! How do you expect the people you alerted to run from where you are to the centre of the city in 5 minutes? Even you couldn't run that fast! "
The smile on Cassiel's face quickly vanished as he began to consider the implications.
[Cassiel] - "Oh shit... "
Whispered Cassiel, realization finally settling in.
On the other side, Hubris closed his eyes before angrily smashing down a wall with his fist. He quickly looked around, desperately looking for an available gunship which could go fetch Cassiel back. However, by this point, the evacuation of this sector was complete, and there were no more gunships to spare. In a panic, he activated his com and called the ship's flight director.
[Hubris] - "Get me a gunship, any ship down in sector B! "
[Operator] - "Who is this? "
[Hubris] - "It's Hubris Maximus! The 2nd Marine Captain! Can't you tell from my voice, you fool? Send me a goddamn gunship or something! "
Yelled Hubris at the top of his lungs in a shaking voice.
[Operator] - "We are operating at maximum capacity. We have other zones to evacuate; we cannot allocate you critical assets at this dire time. "
[Hubris] - "You will allocate me a fucking gunship! Now! "
Yelled Hubris while collapsing another building front.
As more flight operations flared up, the operator had to cut Hubris off so he could focus on his duty. On the ground, Hubris gripped his helmet, his face full of worry as he knew that Cassiel was done for. Never has Hubris, a man with nerves as cold as ice and confidence as high as Mount Everest, panicked like this before. It was a sight as rare as winning all the lotteries on Earth, but there stood Hubris, a man broken beyond anything by dread.
[Hubris] - "You dumb child... You dumb child! Why can't you just... Just be like the rest? God... Just... get to safety, please... "
Stuttered Hubris as he threw his helmet on the ground.
Meanwhile, as Cassiel told the clerk to seek underground shelter, the ground suddenly shook. For a moment, Cassiel thought it was the impact of the nukes as he hugged the clerk in his arms, trying to shield him from the explosion. However, when none of the expected violence occurred, Cassiel opened his eyes and saw the legs of a titan outside the store. Relieved, he ran outside and quickly linked his radio to the titan, while instructing the clerk to warn the others and to seek shelter.
[Cassiel] - "Hey! What's the progress on your part? What sector did you warn already? "
Said Cassiel as he ran after the machine.
Recognizing the voice, Angela immediately looked down to see Cassiel running toward her.
[Angela] - "Oh, it's you, Chief Commissar! What are you doing this far away? "
Said Angela as her titan swiftly halted and turned to face Cassiel.
[Cassiel] - "I'm trying to warn the people in this area? What's your progress so far? "
[Angela] - "I tried to tell people to seek shelter... But wait, seriously, are you mad? You have a transport or something to fly back to safety or something? You know impact is in 3 minutes, right? "
Said Angela, baffled by Cassiel's situation.
[Cassiel] - "Aw, screw it! You know, I'm just going to warn as many people as possible. If I make it, great; if not, too bad. "
[Angela] - "Well, you're lucky I'm around here. Come on, hop on; I can still take us to safety before the impact. "
[Cassiel] - "No, you go! I'll just go over there; there is a shopping mall. I can still warn a few more people to seek shelter. "
Said Cassiel as he began to run toward the shopping centre.
[Angela] - "Wait, Chief Commissar! Don't be stupid! We have done what we can; there is no need to– "
Angela paused, moving her titan to follow Cassiel to the shopping mall.
In the sky, the front of the missiles opened, exposing the split warheads underneath. As they fired out of their main bodies, what used to be a few hundred missiles turned suddenly into a few thousand of them. As each group split toward their designated targets across the United States, at least a dozen streaked down toward Dallas. At the same time, as Cassiel was about to enter the shopping mall, Angela abruptly leaped in front of him and blocked his path.
[Cassiel] - "You can't stop me! I already said it; this is what I live for! As an Imperial Marine, this is my life's purpose! "
Said Cassiel as he tried to go around the titan's legs.
[Angela] - "I'm not trying to stop you, I'm trying to give you a new idea, idiot! "
Said Angela as her titan precisely kicked Cassiel back without using too much force.
Like a small doll, Cassiel was sent into the pavement, leaving a massive crater in the concrete as he crashed.
[Angela] - "My titan has a shield rating of two nuclear blasts. It might not be much, but I figure this is better than random, unreliable shelters. How about you gather people under me? It's better to die trying to than to face certain death, no? "
Said Angela as she gritted her teeth at what she had just done to Cassiel.
Cassiel pushed himself off the ground and looked up at the titan. Thinking for a moment, he figured that Angela had a point to her logic as he acknowledged her with a slight nod.
[Cassiel] - "Could work... Alright, stay here; I will bring people to you! "
Said Cassiel before crashing through the glass doors into the shopping mall.
Moving into a clothing store, the customers immediately froze as they noticed the giant white-purple warrior crashing through the window. Tearing away the clothing caught in his helmet's ornament, Cassiel quickly explained the situation to the customers. Pointing at the titan outside, he instructed the shoppers to move under the titan's protection. However, when the people only gave him confused and scared looks while still frozen in place, Cassiel had no choice but to change his tactics. After all, who'd listen to a supersoldier bursting into their lives and yelling about a nuclear apocalypse?
Looking at the timer in his vision, Cassiel hissed before hurrying out of view. After moving to a place without many witnesses, he activated the signature technology of the 3rd fleet, built into the armour of every Angelic Marine. After setting his target imitation to that of a US soldier, the purple lights on his armour began to glow. On the other side of the door, he was still an Imperial Marine, but once he crossed through to the other side, he was now a soldier.
Moving through the mall, he screamed for an evacuation order, which this time the people properly obeyed. As the frantic crowd passed around him, many bumped strangely on an invisible surface around Cassiel, which was, in reality, the real dimension of his armour. As his eyes moved up inside his vision, he saw the chilling text of 30 seconds left until impact.
[Cassiel] - "Move it, move! Move now, people! "
Said Cassiel as he pushed a few slow ones for a boost.
Outside, Angela looked up at the glowing spears descending from the sky and then at the timer on top of her screen.
[Angela] - "Come on... You can do it... "
Whispered Angela with a worried face while trying to find Cassiel among the crowd gathering at her titan's feet.
Inside the mall, Cassiel noticed an old couple lagging behind the crowd. Even as the timer dropped below ten seconds, he selflessly rushed forward and lifted them both onto his shoulders before running toward the exit. He might not make it, as he was sure the counter would zero before he could make it out of the mall. Nonetheless, Cassiel smiled as he saw that most of the people were gathered under the titan. At that moment, Cassiel's only regret was how he could not save the elderly couple he was carrying on his shoulders.
However, just as the first few nukes zipped across the sky toward the ground, pillars of pure white fire appeared like divine intervention, annihilating the first few warheads before they could impact the ground and detonate. Again, as the second wave of warheads descended, the cruiser's plasma batteries fired again, intercepting the projectiles just on time.
[Weapon operator] - "Second wave intercepted! "
However, as the turrets followed the first two waves downward, they were unable to rise back up in time to intercept the last two warheads that lagged behind the others. Yet, this was just the few precious seconds Cassiel needed to cross the finish line. For a moment, Cassiel could glimpse the warhead arriving about a hundred meters away from where he stood. Then, as he crossed into the titan's shielding, all faded to dark as the shield deflected the blinding light and heat of the explosion away.
The ground shook violently, this time, with a force several times greater than that of the titans' steps. Then, as the second warhead detonated across the city, the ground rocked violently once again. Yet, to the relief of everyone, the worst they experienced was a few bruises from falling. The titan's molecular shield deflected everything away, with the outside glowing bright white like sunlight while darkness enveloped the environment inside.
A tsunami of heat and shockwaves swept across the city, from the tallest skyscrapers to the modest suburban house; all vanished under the merciless and indiscriminate embrace of nuclear Armageddon. The unlucky ones who didn't seek shelter in time vanished in an instant, etched into the ground as shadows that captured their last moments. The world burned and screamed for that cruel instant before all fell silent.
While the people underneath the titan opened their phones to try shining some light inside the total darkness, Angela's screens were glowing bright with warning signs she had never even seen before in her life. For all her titan's tenacity, this was its absolute limit. Angela, for the first time ever, felt her titan's joints and body groan as if it were in pain. Then, as things weren't already terrible enough, the mall structure collapsed onto the titan's shield, adding further strain.
[Angela] - "Come on, baby, you can do it. You are stronger than those Cold War relics. "
Whispered Angela to her machine, all the while her hands gripped until they were white on the control sticks.
With clattering teeth, Angela closed her eyes and imagined Michele and Emperor Apogee. She prayed for their protection as the slightest failure at this point would expose the people inside to a deadly level of radiation and heat. The ground shook again, but Angela held steady as she began to cite her prayers.
[Angela] - "We are righteous in our action; do not let those with malice in their hearts achieve victory against those who sought fairness in this world! Oh Great Angel, the Angel of War, Lord Regent of the Empire, protect us, guide us through this storm! "
Whispered Angela as she crossed her palms against her chest to form wings.
Outside, seeing no need to keep his disguise, Cassiel turned off his suit's chameleon system and revealed his true identity. Initially, he expected shock or fear from the people around him. Yet, to his surprise, they looked at him with veneration and awe as if he were a true angel. As Cassiel moved to the centre of the crowd, the people began to voice their gratitude toward him. For the first time, Cassiel didn't feel like a weapon as people felt safe around him.
The shield flickered slightly, causing the crowd to panic. Yet, Angela kept praying while Cassiel calmly raised his head and looked up at where the sky is supposed to be. There was hope in Angela's heart and in Cassiel's eyes. Then, another flicker, but this time in Angela's vision as she opened them to see the stats on her screens gradually returning to their healthy values.
Suddenly, Cassiel was cast under a bright column of light, cleansing the darkness around him. Behind the powerful headlight, the titan's hatch opened as Angela crawled out of the cockpit and sat on top of her machine. With a grin, Angela raised her thumb at Cassiel, who immediately reciprocated her action. However, as the moment of triumph passed, Cassiel excused himself from the crowd and climbed up the titan onto its head.
[Angela] - "What? Too crowded down there for you? "
Teased Angela as Cassiel arrived beside her.
There was a look of worry on Cassiel's face as he tried to access the hatch in a hurry.
[Cassiel] - "Your titan's radio is stronger than mine. Mind if I borrow it for a moment? "
Caught off-guard by Cassiel's request, Angela quickly shifted her legs out of the hatch to give him access inside.
[Angela] - "Huh? I mean, sure! Be my guest, but it's not very tidy in there. "
Once inside, Cassiel connected his helmet to the titan and began broadcasting his signal to his company. Behind, Angela also dropped in before quickly shoving away her junk and belongings out of Cassiel's sight.
[Cassiel] - "Squad Commissars of the 2nd Company, report at once, this is Chief Commissar Cassiel! Are all your men accounted for? "
Said Cassiel with a concerned expression.
In order, every squad Commissar of the 2nd Company began to answer Cassiel's call with their own reports. Cassiel was tense throughout the report, clearly worried in case anyone was left behind. Only when Cassiel received confirmation that there were no losses across all 11 squads of the company did he finally allow himself to breathe a sigh of relief.
[Hubris] - "Cassiel? You tenacious little man, you survived? Thank God, I knew you're smart and tenacious, you little bastard, you got me worried sick! "
Screamed Hubris excitedly over the com, causing Cassiel to jump in his seat.
[Cassiel] - "Oh! Captain! I... Yeah, I survived, all thanks to... "
Said Cassiel as he turned to Angela.
[Angela] - "Angela! Titan Knight Angela, at the service of the Angel of War! Don't worry, Captain, your little man here is safe with me. "
Said Angela as she enthusiastically joined the conversation.
[Hubris] - "Haha! Not only did you survive, but you also got yourself a girlfriend. God, I gotta give you a big hug when you come back; you are absolutely worthy of a hug from the great Hubris Maximus! "
Said Hubris, relieved and bursting with excitement.
[Cassiel] - "It's not– Damn it, Captain, I just learned her name now. "
Said Cassiel, flustered.
Angela giggled in the background as she saw Cassiel's embarassement written all over his face.
[Hubris] - "Alright, little man. Get back to the company soon; we gotta throw a party to celebrate this occasion. Invite your little girlfriend as well, haha. "
[Angela] - "I'll be there, don't worry. "
Said Angela with a smile.
[Cassiel] - "Pfft... You two are absolutely insufferable. You should become a couple instead. "
Said Cassiel with an annoyed face before climbing out of the cockpit.
As Cassiel climbed out of the cockpit and breathed deeply, he once again saw the crowd of survivors below. For a moment, he smiled at the fact that so many survived. Yet, that smile quickly shifted into a bitter grimace as Cassiel realized how many perished as well. It was a lucky survival for those who were there at the right place and right time.
"If only I could do a little more... If only I had a few more minutes... There would've been a few more faces in here. "
Thought Cassiel as he stared at the empty spaces below where more could've stood.
Elsewhere, most of the nuclear warheads were intercepted by the ships of the 3rd Fleet across the United States. However, just like in Dallas, the few cities with lesser ships of the fleet still received a few successful strikes, causing devastation only to the populace while damage to Imperial asset were negligeable. It was the last cry of the cowards and the honourless, but also the rise of a new order vindicated by the action of the Old World. The National Empire was tested against the ultimate weapons of yesterday, and the past shattered against the foundation of tomorrow.
To be continued...