Fireflight

Chapter Twenty Five

Two days passed quickly and I.M.P found themselves to the north and east of the Goetia lands. They had said their goodbyes to their friends and had been airlifted to the outskirts of Huros along with the chancellor. The city now lay in ruin, a shattered husk of its former self. From their vantage point in the sky the mercenaries were able to look down over the entire city. No building stood untouched, and over half of the city was reduced to rubble. 

They landed on the plaza outside the government building and stepped off onto solid ground. The front of the building has collapsed, with a quarter of its soaring dome falling with it. The rest of the high structure leaned precariously to the right, held up by buckled and cracked pilons. Nearby and pushed against the ruins of the surrounding buildings stacks of bodies covered in tattered tarps reached heights of several meters. The smell of rotting flesh assualted their noises and threatened to make them sick. 

"What happened here?" Millie asked, covering her nose. 

"Massacre." The chancellor seethed. "You are witnessing the corpses of an entire tribe of the Macota people. The enemy killed every last man, woman, and child of the Leykoya." 

"I'm sure that's an overstatement, right?" Blitzo asked, looking up at the chancellor. 

Byransk looked down at the short imp, his eyes speaking for him. 

"I see." Blitzo muttered, looking away. 

"So what's our part of this revenge scheme?" Loona asked. 

"We've struck deep into Tartarisia," the chancellor began. "We're going to airlift you onto the walls of the already besieged palace. You will secure the courtyard so that Prince Stolas can arrive via portal." 

"What's he have to do with this?" Moxxie asked. 

"The prince and his wife would like to pay Henri back for his treachery. Your job is to clear the area for them so that they can focus on him." 

"And you're coming with us?" Millie asked. 

The giant hellhound shook his head. "I will lead the charge on the city. I know to trust you though, I have seen nothing but excellence from you." 

"Thanks big guy." Blitzo replied. "One question though? Why did we stop here?" 

"Resupply. I'm going to give you any weapon you want." the cyborg said, pointing to a cargo box full of weapons. "Now go eat your heart out." 

"That's what I'm talking about! Man, you're awesome. Did I ever tell you that?" Blitzo grinned. 

"Just go." Byransk said flatly, his mask covering a small smile of his own. 

Without needing more urging, the five mercenaries descended on the cache and began to sort through the ordinance. They checked over the weapons like kids on Christmas morning, taking what they could and looking over them thoroughly. Brenden kept his rifle, and rather than pick up any other guns, opted to gather more ammo and a chain of grenades. Satisfied, he slunk back out of the crate to wait for the others. 

Millie settled on a grenade launcher and shotgun, slinging the two weapons over her shoulder. Beside her Moxxie chose a simple combat rifle. Content that it was fully functional and good for the job, he picked up ammo and went to wait by Brenden. On the other side of the crate, Blitzo held two pistols in his hand. He would be using his personal one, but had decided that a second one in battle would do nicely. 

"Loona, which one do you think I should take? Machine gun pistol or grenade launcher pistol?" 

"Take them both." his daughter suggested, shrugging. 

Blitzo nodded and shoved both guns through his belt. "Look's I raised you up right." he told her. 

Loona smiled and picked up a small, quad barreled gun with a large drum clipped onto its side. "Moxxie! What's this?" she asked, flashing the gun at him. 

"Oh, that's an automatic shotgun!" he said excitedly. "They're very rare." 

"I'm taking it." the hellhound said. 

Once ready, the five of them came back to the Chancellor for further orders. 

"Take that chopper there." he said, pointing nearby. 

"Good luck sir." Moxxie said. 

"Good luck to you all as well." Byransk rumbled. 

They split ways, I.M.P going to their ride, while the chancellor climbed aboard his own. The vehicle dipped from his weight, struggling to move off the ground at first until its engines throttled up. A handful of Silver Legion commandoes joined the five mercenaries, packing the helo to full capacity. The chopper took off, taking them back into the air and turning to the west, it began to carry them towards their last fight.