Inevitable Ascension

Chapter 13 - Weaponized Paranoia

The air was flooded with the sounds of Kali's barrage, a blaring alarm and cries of panic. Each collision threatened to knock Violina from the spire, but forcing herself to keep a clear head, she connected the wires of Gideon's reprogrammed system, and with the flicker of a green light, she knew her task was complete. It was inevitable now. Even if she died, so too would her enemies. But why had the assault begun ahead of schedule? Was Kali simply negligent or was something more sinister at play?

An overwhelming sense of vertigo enveloped Violina as she felt gravity pull her sideways. Her face, already pale from the cold rain, drained of whatever blood was left as she realized what was happening: The tower was collapsing. There was nothing she could do but clutch the pole for dear life. As the clouds around her began to dissipate, she received a clear view of her plummet toward the cliffs. She leapt from the spire just before the tower careened into the mountain with resounding thunder, and rocks gashed her sides as she tumbled down the mountain's far side.

After what felt like an eternity, the world stopped spinning and she lay still. Violina surveyed her condition. All of her joints could move, albeit painfully. Torn up, but alive, she chose to ignore her pain and scaled back up to the summit where death and destruction were ramping up exponentially.

Violina stared through the storm as it continued to hammer down its acidic blight. Hundreds of Separatists were pouring out of the barracks and scrambling to arm themselves, only to get blasted away by bullets, lasers and fire from all directions. She scanned the path Lux had been patrolling for any sign of her, but saw only a squad of rifle-wielding Separatists sprinting past. They opened fire on a Taloc-Mech whose pilot was preoccupied with bombarding the patrols along the outer perimeter, splitting him and his mech into several distinct pieces. The squad's negligible victory over their target was short-lived however, as the screeching howls of artillery shells crashed into the center of them and left no discernible fragments behind.

The chain reaction had reached critical mass. There was no hope for the Separatists to regain control of the situation now. Wave after wave of men and women continued to emerge from the various structures and annihilate one another in chaotic rage and confusion. Those who managed to strap themselves into Taloc-Mechs had perhaps the longest life expectancy, but in the face of the barrages from Separatist artillery and Kali's mortar squads, an extra thirty seconds of life could hardly be considered substantial.

Violina's stomach churned. Never in her life had she witnessed such carnage. Despite being a people who worshiped death, the rampant screams of terror and desperation made the fear on the air palpable. A part of her soul sincerely wept for them, but another part, perhaps a greater part, reveled as violent justice was served in heaping masses to the monsters below her.

Lux was still nowhere to be seen, but it was impossible to say whether that meant she was dead or had escaped. If Kali's early attack on the compound ended up killing Lux, there would be absolute hell to pay. But surely Lux had gotten out, right? Violina was certain that the split-second the first explosion hit, she would have taken that as her cue to drop the rifle and run for it.

Violina's thoughts were interrupted by a stray mortar landing uncomfortably close to her, showering her with rocks and debris from the impact. Instinctively she covered her head, allowing her arms to take the brunt of it, then, with an urgent desire to put more distance between herself and the slaughter, she dashed along the cliff tops in search of a safer viewpoint. Taking cover beside the fallen tower, her morbid curiosity compelled her to continue to watch the massacre.

It was fascinating to see the varying degrees of devotion the Separatists had to their beliefs. Some valiantly stood their ground, killing anyone and everything they could see, then welcomed their own death with open arms, but others—many others, fled for the exit. It wasn't long before the would-be deserters abandoned all hope of escape via the main doors however, as they had become blockaded by a combination of destroyed machinery, fiery craters and mutilated bodies. Some attempted to take cover in the warehouses, but to no avail as the constant bombardment soon brought them crushing death.