The Grey Chronicles Part One: New Declaration of An Old War

Chapter 24: A Fireworks Show in a Steel Boneyard.

The Stardemon, outer space around Apostle Four, June of 8096 AL.

Apostle Four came into view as the Stardemon passed through the last of the wreckage surrounding the backwater planet. The drydock was fuller than usual, there were only a few open docking spaces available. Briarios cursed to himself, wondering if even the Rapture could handle that many ships. He looked to Empress, who stood beside the helm looking stoic and graceful as ever.

"Where exactly do we need to place the beacon?" Briarios asked, she shot him a sidelong glance.

"I have marked the best drop point," she waved her hand and the helm's console screen changed to display the space around Apostle Four, showing an orange dot halfway between the drydock and the rubble just outside of the planet's orbit. "From those coordinates the Rapture will be well clear of the rubble and will have an open vector for the majority of their available weapons."

"Good, thank you Empress," He piloted the ship towards the marker, stopping momentarily as he reached it.

"Gunnery sergeant, give me a sitrep. Is the beacon ready?" Briarios ordered through his headset.

"Yes sir!" Hoster replied, "We have the beacon in the hangar bay, we're ready to jettison it on your mark, sir."

"Ready," Briarios switched his console display to show the outside of the hangar, "Mark."

He heard grunting and metal scraping on metal as he watched a ten-foot-tall sphere covered with antennae and various instruments drift through the blue shield in the hangar out into space. The beacon drifted several meters, then came to a stop.

"Beacon away sir," Gunny said cheerfully. "When do we get to put it to use?"

"Right after we put those Rabbits to use," Briarios smiled, "Get them fueled up and ready your platoon, we'll be docking in ten minutes."

"Aye sir, Hoster out."

Briarios piloted the ship to one of the few open docking spaces. He docked with the drydock and paid the fee, skipping the haggling this time. He walked to the hangar and was glad to see twenty-nine Rabbits filled with members from Grizzly platoon, all of whom were whooping and hollering like animals. He stepped towards the lone empty Rabbit and climbed into the driver's seat. Alex took the gunner's chair in the back, and Aela rode in the passenger's seat. Briarios started the truck and pulled out of the hangar onto the deck of the skyhook, driving towards the vehicle elevator. He paid the fee to ride down to the surface and hurried to the bar where he'd met the Titanus agent.

Just in the two kilometers from the skyhook to the bar Briarios witnessed two murders, nineteen drug deals, eleven muggings, and at least six abductions. There were beggars on every corner, used condoms and surgical syringes littered the ground. Ditches served as open sewers, and Briarios saw suspicious shapes lying in them; he wasn't sure if they were dead bodies, or if the people lying in sewage were still alive. The only comfort he found was that he saw no children, even in the windows of the many apartment buildings. The capital city of Apostle Four wasn't anyone's home; you came, did your business, and left as quickly as possible, or you never left at all. The place disgusted him, the things he witnessed made him sick. Just being on the planet made him feel infected, as if the evil around him would somehow seep into his body and take over. It reminded him of when Hyde would take control of his father; madness, violence, and an illogical intelligence that set everyone on edge. The only noise that permeated the thick smog above the planet was that of car horns, gun fire, and screams. There were no laws on Apostle Four; the entire planet was in anarchy.

He parked outside of the bar and climbed out of the Rabbit, careful to make sure he didn't leave the keys in the vehicle. As he was walking towards the door, the rest of the Rabbits pulled up and backed into the parking spaces in front of the bar; they had to be ready to leave in a hurry.