KOTR 22
“Nukes coming from the sky! Take cover now!” a mage yelled to his comrades. Those who can’t fly took cover in supposedly impenetrable places such as basements and underground sewers. No one challenged the Saint of Swords anymore because they were busy fending for their lives. With General Bernard taken hostage, the Terran Army couldn’t function properly as they have no one to take orders from. Same goes for the Mid-Childans so it’s every man for himself. The giant machine thundered on, unstopped even though wounded quite badly. The two soldiers in the mecha were still busy ripping out things when they heard the nuke siren.
“Hey, did you hear that? I think it was a nuclear siren,” the German soldier said. The Mexican soldier stopped to listen. “I think it is. We better stop wrecking this thing for now and find for cover quickly,” he said hastily. Just as they were about to exit through the hole in the body of the mecha, drones blocked their way. “Remember what I told you about machines back on Earth?” the German soldier asked his partner. “What?” his partner asked back. “I hate them,” the German said and he brandished his shotgun. The Mexican soldier followed him and they fought their way out. Even though they were outnumbered, the two got out from the machine in one piece. Talk about miraculous.
Fate was getting impatient because the medics did not return with the Mid-Childan doctors. It had been 5 minutes already. “Where are they?” Fate asked impatiently. Nanoha was slipping in and out of consciousness for the last 5 minutes as well, as if she were about to die. The medics tried to keep her alive by defibrillating her with portable defibrillators. They gave Nanoha intensive care. Just then, the medics returned with some doctors. However, they all look bloody. “What happened out there?” Fate asked the first medic. “Ambush, we ran into an ambush. The anarchists have taken over the streets and are advancing here. We better get Nanoha the basement of this building so we can treat her there,” the medic replied.
Fate instructed them to get Nanoha into the basement while she tried to face the anarchists alone. Unknown to her, leading the anarchists was Arin herself and frankly, Arin knew nothing about the nuclear attack. “Okay people, let’s go forth and wipe the enemies out. Mason said that the coalition had abandoned the city due to the machine that one of our scientists built. If we can win this, we can establish the Belkan Empire once more,” she said. As she closed in, they encountered Fate. “You’re not going anywhere, Arin,” Fate said while pointing Bardiche at her. Arin raised her eyebrow. “You again? Well, I can’t believe you survived after being assaulted by twenty cyborgs last year. You are tougher than I thought, Fate Testarossa Harlaown. Your army is gone though, so there is no point resisting,” Arin said. “I know but don’t you know anything about a nuclear attack?” Fate asked. “What nuclear attack?” she asked suspiciously. “A nuclear attack launched by the Terrans. Even if you are my enemy, I still must warn you about this danger. Get out of Cranagan if you value your life, Arin,” Fate warned. “Nice try, Testarossa. I’m not falling for that trick though,” Arin said.
“I’m not trying to trick you, Arin! You will be doomed along with us if you don’t find cover quickly!” Fate yelled angrily. Arin’s soldiers did not say anything but they looked at each other. “Don’t let her trick you. She only said that because she knows she will lose,” Arin said mockingly. Something from the sky caught her eye and she looked up. Like what Fate said earlier, missiles were falling from the sky. “Damn, you’re trying to get us all killed!” Arin yelled at Fate angrily. “I told you that wasn’t part of our plan, stupid. It came without warning,” Fate said calmly. Arin looked at her soldiers and shook her head. “Fine, you win. I have reasons to live yet so I won’t fight you for now. However, don’t think we’ll let you go next time. Okay men, turn around and get out of the city,” Arin ordered. Her men marched out from Cranagan at a quick pace but before Arin left, she turned around to look at Fate. “Fate, Lance is safe with me. He won’t be returning to you though,” she said and quickly escaped after that. “What does she mean by that?” Fate asked herself. Shaking her head, Fate went into hiding.
Due sipped some wine and looked out the ship’s window, watching triumphantly as the missiles fell from the sky. Erio, Caro and Lutecia watched in horror though. “In another 5 minutes, you’ll be saying goodbye to everyone in Cranagan. After that, you’ll be joining them as well,” Due said. Erio wanted to attack her but Caro stopped him. “No, if you attack her, Hayate will be killed!” Caro said. “Good girl, Caro. It seems like you value life more than that barbaric friend of yours,” Due mocked. Suddenly, she felt the ship rock. There was a damage hole in the hull and when she swiveled the aft camera to the back, she saw a jet. It was turning around for another attack. Due suddenly felt cold sweat as she saw the dragon head insignia on the plane. “This can’t be. Is that Earth Serpent-5?” Due asked herself, her voice suddenly lowered to a whisper.
“I was wondering where you were hiding, Due. I’ve been looking for you for the entire month,” the pilot said coolly. Earth Serpent-5 was Earth’s most legendary ace pilot who has the skill of a thousand pilots. A high-risk mission pilot, Earth Serpent-5 has always fought alone and seldom interacted with other pilots and their squadron mates. Some said he was an Asian while others said he was European. No one knows because no one ever saw him in person. Even if they do, they only see a man in full pilot armor, his face covered as well. ES-5 never lost and his gracefulness in the skies proved to be unearthly.
ES-5 evaded the hail of shots fired from the captured ship. He inched closely towards the engines and fired two missiles. ES-5 turned around for another shot. “He is quite graceful in battle. I never expected Terran pilots to be such fliers,” Lutecia said in admiration. Due growled in anger. “That’s it; I’m setting this ship to self-destruct. I don’t need to be here anymore anyway,” she said. She hit a red button and the alarms blared. “See you later…if there is any later,” she said to the three and escaped. At the same time, the ship’s engines exploded as ES-5 did the killing blow. “We better get away from this ship and Cranagan before we get killed. Grab the Rear Admiral and let’s move,” Erio said. Just as they cleared the ship, it exploded and sent bits of metal everywhere. Erio and the others headed to an area far away where they will stay there until the coast was clear.
On the ground, everyone hid in secure places as instructed temporary superiors. When the last fighter cleared the streets, everyone waited in silence and fear. Cranagan, Mid-Childa’s, capital, was vulnerable for the first time in history. Ever since Jail Scaglietti’s terror which almost cost the Mid-Childan army dearly, his latest plan cost everyone their lives, military and civilian alike. Fate looked out the window of the building she was hiding in, her heart beat racing like an assault rifle. The missiles seemed slow, too slow. “Jail Scaglietti’s plan 7 years ago to terrorize us has been partially successful. However, this time it seems too much,” Fate said to herself. She felt worried about everyone, especially Erio. She had met him since they first moved to Mid-Childa. That seemed so…long ago.
“Ma’am, Nanoha is in stable condition. The Mid-Childan doctors have successfully reattached her spine and got the nerves running again,” a medic reported to her. Fate nodded and let a sigh of relief. “At least that is one personal blessing I can cherish at this dark hour,” she replied solemnly. “Can I get you patched up as well?” the medic asked while pointing at her wounds. Fate shook her head and declined politely. The medic nodded and said nothing more.
At exactly 3.30 p.m. Mid-Childan time, 50 nuclear missiles struck Mid-Childa. This event known as the Nuclear Armageddon will be marked in future Mid-Childan calendars, a day when billions of lives will be lost to the power of Terran nuclear bombs launched by Terran traitors. From that day forth, a new era of warfare will take place and this time, the broken coalition force will rally and fight back their enemies. If they are lucky enough, they can bring the fight to the enemy, on the satellite planet of Lilith, base to the anarchists. We will continue in season 2 of Knights of the Reich: Final Strike.