Loyalties

Chapter 24

I peek around the corner of a building, my rifle trained down the street. It's deserted.

"We're clear," I whisper, motioning Alex forward. He walks from behind me, his rifle locked on his shoulder. The four stars on his shoulder glimmer as the sunlight reflects off them.

My eyes dart back and forth between buildings and streets, looking for even the slightest hint of movement. I try not to look at the scorched bodies lying on the ground. Shards of glass litter the pavement, crunching as my boots step down on them.

"This place looks deserted," I say to Alex, who's lowered his guard. "I think the Black Sun has moved on to attacking somewhere else."

"Or they joined the central battle," Alex says, darkly. "Just bomb the place and move on."

The rest of the walk down the street is silent, only the crunching of glass breaking the silence occasionally. My eyes continue to dart side the side, making sure we don't get flanked by any soldiers.

Roughly twenty minutes has passed when we start to hear an echo of gunshots over the bombing of cannons and the whistling of shells. Alex and I look at each other, and run towards the noise.

We are on a hillside, overlooking the invasion. The capital, which was once a beautiful place to gaze in awe, is now in utter ruins. The magnificent skyscrapers that once stood tall, bragging with the best architecture and most expensive materials, are all fallen into giant heaps of rubble. Those that are left standing have ugly gashes all over their sides and holes blasted straight through.

Any smaller buildings had no chance of surviving. Anything unfortunate to be built where a shell buried itself is now gone, no matter what it was.

All around the battlefield, a sea of black surrounds it, save for gaps where tanks lay waste to whatever the cannons missed.

Up in the sky, fighters fly, evading both anti air cannons and the enemy. My eyes follow a dogfight, where a friendly is trying to shake a Black Sun fighter. Particle beams fly from dual Gatling guns, each bolt narrowly missing. The friendly fighter banks hard left and thrusts itself away. The Black Sun fighter, however, follows suit. Thrusters on its belly shoot, freezing the fighter midair for a second before it takes off after the friendly fighter.

"Jesus fuck," Alex mutters, his rifle dangling by his side. Even though the palace is still standing, much of its beauty is removed. Some of the spires have fallen, the gardens are all overturned, and the central structure is damaged.

"Adrian," Cindy says, my earpiece buzzing to life. Her voice sounds frantic. "They've broken through the lines! I've ordered some cruisers to seal it back up, but it isn't working!"

Breaking through the clouds, a Black Sun ship emerges, some of its turrets firing on friendly troops. The massive size of the cruiser blocks the sun, casting a dark shadow onto the battlefield.

"It's hell down here," I say to Cindy. "We're barely holding on." Meanwhile, Alex is trying to contact his father, who is surely I the midst of battle. "I'll try to get up the as soon as possible, Cindy. If I can find a ship that works, I'll come right back to you."

A faint voice yells something and the comm picked it up. I can't tell who it is. "I have to go, Adrian. I love you," Cindy says, sadness in her voice.

"I love you too," I say, and the line is severed. I turn to Alex, who's talking to someone.

"Praetorian guardsman, find Drake Daemon," he says, a little angered. A couple minutes pass, dead silence from Alex.

"Dad?" Alex says happily. "Dad, I'm on the ridge, and-"

A muttering, distorted voice behind us stops Alex mid-sentence. We turn around. A squad of five Black Sun soldiers walks up to us, guns raised. I draw my rifle and kill the lead one. The other four fire laser bolts, trying to hit Alex and I. I slide behind a building, not paying attention to Alex. When I look back, he's gone.

I peek around the corner, and a bolt narrowly misses my head. I go back to hiding, my back against the brick wall. I lean out again, ready to shoot, when behind them, a rifle is fired, killing another one. Confused, one turns around, and I peg him in the head. I'm about to kill another when they both drop dead. Still keeping my rifle trained, Alex appears out of nowhere.

"Active camouflage," he says, pointing to a pad on his wrist. He walks back to the ridge. He is once again in touch with his father.

"Dad, where are you?" he asks, scanning the battlefield. After a minute, Alex says, "Copy that. I got your location marked. Daemon out."

"We got where we're going?" I ask. Alex nods. I'm about to walk down the ridge when Alex yells something.

"Look out!" he says, pointing the to sky, his comm channel open.

Flying across the sky, two Black Sun bombers zip towards the palace. Before I can comprehend what's going on, they fly over the palace, and all that's left is a bright ball of fire and light.