Anthem's Fall

Chapter Fifty Three

Chapter Twenty-One

The Lord General and Royal Guard

The two stoic Imperial First Class soldiers soundlessly traversed the skies over an expansive countryside. They were making their way steadily westward. A pair of massive birds of prey, Hoff held position a few body lengths ahead of Darien. They moved high over broad stretches of forest and narrow lakes nestled between humble hills. Here and there a highway or gathering of shingled rooftops would gleam up at them.

They were unwelcome strangers in a land blind to their malevolent presence, and they had no minds for leisurely sightseeing as they embraced the wooded country below. On the contrary, the lush carpet of vibrant foliage that fell away beneath them only stirred up feelings of anger and resentment. If the two soldiers possessed a greater ability to express their tangled emotions, they would have identified their shared sentiments as envy. Envy of the lands the people below called home. In their terse exchanges, Hoff and Darien agreed that an untested and unproven race did not deserve such a flourishing sanctuary.

The pale blue skies of the coastal east gradually gave way to cold blustering clouds that brooded tumultuously around them as they moved west. A cold drizzle touched their armor and the skin of their arms as they examined the lands. After some time soaring through the cold rain, Hoff held up his hand and came to a stop. The Lord General floated still in the dark sky, and Darien came to a stop at his side. The ground beneath them had noticeably shifted topographically; the hills had smoothed into level flatlands, and the broad gray mass of an immense lake extended across the vista to the north and commanded the horizon. The gigantic lake's dreary surface was that of an ocean, flecked with white caps and shadowy menacing swells. A number of rather unimpressive towns were scattered across the bank, and the infinitesimal movement of cars could be seen on the wet highways. Here and there a few buildings reached into the sky from the most prominent hub, perhaps a city. Aside from the several tall steel structures, the coast was cluttered with low rises and parking lots between stands of woods.

"What do you think?" Darien asked as he looked at the sodden roads and rooftops.

Hoff wiped cold precipitation from his brow. "I'm looking down at this world and these people and seeing nothing. I see a civilization that can barely hold back the wilderness that presses in around it. I see people that don't deserve even a shadow of our likeness. This mission is not going to get us anywhere. There's nothing of help to us here. Why Vengelis wants us to hold back at all is lost on me. It's shameful, staying out of sight of these people in this reverent manner. We're hiding from sheep."

"We're not hiding out of respect, Hoff. We're laying low so Vengelis can reach the scientists," Darien called over the growing wind as he squinted below. "But we only need to stay concealed for a little while longer. For now we just have to play our part."

"These...towns...won't serve for a spectacle. There aren't enough buildings down there to draw attention even if they were to fall." Hoff called and spat into the air. He watched his spittle fall far into the swirling rain. "We need to find a more populated city before we make contact with Vengelis."

"Yes," Darien said.

Hoff turned and eyed each horizon. In the north, the slate gray lake stretched beyond sight. To their south, rows of orderly neighborhoods and wet treetops encompassed everywhere the eye could see, which was not very far through the obscuring downpour.

"Do you think such a city exists?" Darien asked.

The Lord General shook his head uncertainly and took out his Harbinger I remote. He brought up a simple map of the North American continent. The screen of the remote glowed in the dreariness, and the Lord General held a forearm up to shield if from the pelting rain.