In Utter Darkness: Chapter 1: New Day
#2 of New Beginnings
Guard those that give you hope...they are always the largest target.
In Utter Darkness: Chapter 1: New Day
Date: (Unknown) (several weeks after invasion)
Location: (Unknown) Military Base, Nevada
Time: 18:00 EST
We had lost. Humanity's first chance to truly pull together in the face of a common adversary and although we tried, it just wasn't enough. Granted it may not have mattered with the forces against us but that outcome was the same. Their Ascension was imminent, with it would come the final blow for all of us left and we couldn't stop it. Five towers...five towers, you would have though the combined military might of the entire world would have been enough to either take or destroy them but we couldn't even get close. Intelligence had put the towers activating 6:00 PM EST, give or take a few minutes...not a lot of time left. I looked over to my left to see Wolf checking out our surviving radios to see if anyone was reporting in from HQ or from the Bastion. As if he sensed my gaze he looked up and just shook his head. "So be it," I thought to myself, "they might just be lying low...wondering if they will survive this."
About 6 hours ago, after another failed attack upon the Nevada tower my squad had regrouped here at this military base that had been captured by the enemy. We "liberated" it from them and managed to set up a command post in the caves connected to it. From there we managed to rescue a small military and civilian convoy headed to the Bastion that was under significant attack. I still hadn't told them that all intel pointed at it being overrun just a few hours previously. With that rescue we managed to bring our fighting force up to about 34, 6 of my squad (including me) and about 28 soldiers from mixed branches. With the soldiers were about 300 civilians; men, women, and children who believed the propaganda that we were winning and that we had somehow found a way to either block or neutralize the towers. All the rest of us knew otherwise.
I glanced around the cavernous room wondering where the rest of my squad and noticed Owl messing with one of the weapons captured when we seized the base. He loved disassembling Dorin technology but I signaled to him and Wolf and told them to head on up to the surface ASAP. Commander Reynolds, the commander of the escort force and also of one of the two Bradley IFV's we had rescued, noticed the gesture and tagged along after them. I shrugged and figured I would talk to him later after I got the rest of the team.
I found Bear examining our meager weapon stockpile with a furrowed frown on his face. "Not enough to take down even a Titan is it?" I asked him. "Afraid not, sir. Not without the Bradley IFVs," I winced knowing we were probably about to lose the crew of them when the towers went off and sent him up top. Viper and Fox were tending to the wounded in our makeshift infirmary and I was hesitant to bother them when they both came over and saluted. "Nothing more I can do," sighed Viper, "they are stable for now we just have to see what happens." I nodded and followed them up the tunnel and to the surface.
The six of us, seven with Reynolds, just looked at the gigantic spire rising into the sky. "Amazing, isn't it?" commented Reynolds, "not much longer now it appears." Wolf nodded his assent as the blue light around it had strengthened in intensity over the last two days. "Shouldn't you be inside?" I asked Reynolds, "You might stand a better chance in there." He just laughed, "I have read the reports Captain, I know it won't help. I would rather see my death coming then cowering in a cave like some rat." I nodded in understanding. "It's a beautiful day to die," commented Fox. "Well," Bear grumbled, "We don't know what will happen to us...for nearly everyone else? Yes."
We saw the bright flash as the tower went off and as I watched the blue shockwave reaching towards us I thought to myself, "It's a new day."
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Oh boy, second story down. All right if I decide to continue it will be the events from the prologue leading up to this. If I really have the time and people like it I will go further from this.
Note: It will be quite a few chapters to get there though.