Chapter 9

Amidst the harsh tundra of the Northern Regions existed a fortified facility that could be seen from miles away, despite the darkness that encased it. Several perfectly lined metal stacks ascended into the air. At each of their tips, a fire raged endlessly, pinpointing the facilities’ location to anyone nearby. Ten feet concrete walls adorned with large bulky machine guns surrounded the facility. Countless guards equipped with red helmets decorated with neon-colored trapezoids patrolled the area. On their bodies laid a heavy pair of light brown pants along with a similarly colored coat. Neon stripes were stitched across the waist, chest, and sleeves. The word ‘Firefighter’ was sewn onto their backs. Their faces could not be seen as they were all covered by black gas masks of various types. The weapons they hoisted fluctuated between simple guns to devastating weapons of gas and flame.

A quarter mile Southwest of the facility, hundreds of hidden figures crawled silently. They slowly approached the facility, being careful so that they would not be detected. Unlike the guards, these troops were equipped with rectangular armor plating made from light metal alloys. The joints were covered by a flexible but sturdy cloth allowing for maximum mobility. They all carried uniform sets of weapons, which was not a common occurrence in this day and age. The unknown army halted and hid behind a field of destroyed metal vehicles. Among them, a woman in her mid-thirties surveyed the building’s defenses with a pair of binoculars. A male figure in his early twenties crouched beside her, quietly reporting their situation.

“Knight, all personnel are accounted for. Waiting on your orders.”

The woman lowered her binoculars and faced the soldier beside her.

The young man gazed at her, remembering the beauty that persuaded him to enlist. He stared at the woman's silky long black hair, which was tied back in a ponytail while her bangs were clipped to the side. Faint signs of aging could be seen on her face, but this only gave her a look of maturity.

“Tell the men to be on standby, engage on my signal.”

“Yes, sir-m-ma’am.” The soldier had made a mistake after realizing that he had been creepily staring at her.

The woman ignored this mishap and pressed on the device that was plugged in her ear.

“This is Knight Emma, we’re in position.”

Her name matched the engraving on her spare rifle, however, the name ‘Emma’ felt foreign and never resonated with her.

“Identity confirmed. Company Commander: First Lieutenant, Knight Emma.” A monotone artificial voice reverberated from her earpiece.

“Establishing battlefield command. Stand by...”

“Objective received.”

“Commander. Before you stands the last remaining stronghold belonging to ‘The Cult of the Eternal Sun’ within the Northern Regions. Your orders are to capture the facility under all costs. Minimize the damage to the storage containers as they contain valuable fuel. The future of the region depends on your actions.”

“Intelligence updated.”

“Reconnaissance suggest the facility is heavily defended by multiple units of Purifiers. Expect heavy resistance.”

“Good luck, Commander.”

After her briefing ended, Emma clenched her fist. She could feel herself shake. A mixture of both anxiety and excitement rushed through her head. “I can never get used to this,” the woman whispered to herself as she grasped her shaking arm. Closing her eyes, Emma steadied her breath.

“Knight, are you alright?”

Emma opened her eyes and checked her weapon.

“Thank you, Esquire. I’m fine.”

With two fingers, she pressed her earpiece again.

“This is Knight Emma, commence operation.”

“Orders received. May the Ancients favor you, Knight.”

“May the Ancients favor us all.” Emma released her earpiece.

A flare ascended into the sky from the ruins northeast of their objective. Shots could be heard as the conflict began to brew on the far side of the facility.

Emma waited and watched in silence as several of the guards rushed to reinforce their northeastern defenses. Now, only two guards remained, overwatching this side of the wall. With her left hand, she signaled two squads of four to advance. As they did, Emma aimed her standard issued rifle at the guards.

Pi. Pi.

Her silencer masked her shots, allowing Emma and her men to remain undetected as she cleared the walls of guards.

The eight individuals arrived quickly at the walls; two from each group carefully planted their explosives in specific locations to minimize the risk of igniting the storage tanks while the other two kept watch. After their initial task was done, they retreated back to their lines and awaited Emma’s signal.

She raised her left hand as the group braced themselves for the shock.

Emma clenched her fist.

…

BWOONNNNNNNNN

The grounds shook as the walls shattered in an intense flash of heat and light. When the dust finally settled, two large breaches exposed the interior of the facility.

On Emma’s signal, the company charged the gaps. Once within the facility, her men immediately took cover wherever they could. The Cultists were caught off guard by the explosion, but they did not panic. Instead, they stationed themselves behind cover, firing aimed shots at the intruders.

PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PA

RATATATATATATATATA

The noise of gunfire pervaded over the outside air. Both sides fought like savages, aiming and firing upon anything that moved without the slightest hesitation. Close quarters combat erupted all across the front lines, some devolving into beastly melee as soldiers of either faction attempted to bash their opponent’s head.

“URRRAAAAUURRAAAAAHHHAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Emma faced the direction of the agonizing screams. Cultists Purifiers, covered from head to toe with heavy plates of iron, doused her men with liquid flames. The fires did not kill immediately, but slowly tormented its victims to death.

“Focus fire on those Purifiers!” Upon hearing Emma’s order, those who could begin to immediately unleash a hailstorm of bullets on the slowly approaching Purifiers. Their shots did not penetrate the thick protective shell that encased these fire-breathing monsters.

“FANATICS INCOMING!” one of her men shouted as he pointed to their left flank. Dozens of skinny figures dashed toward the front lines. Clothed only in thin sheets of ragged white cloth, they armed themselves with large containers of fuel on their backs. Their faces maddened with excitement as white powder covered their nostrils.

“V-V-VILE HEATHENS! F-F-FACE THE WRATH OF THE D-D-D-DEVOUT!!!” The Fanatics attempted to intimidate Emma’s Company with disjointed taunts.

Dogmatic and frenzied, the Fanatics charged at Emma’s men. Most were quickly gunned down, however, a few refused to fall in spite of the numerous holes that littered their scrawny bodies.

“S-SOLIS WELCOMES ME!” The Fanatic screamed with fervor as he released the safety lever of his explosive.

BOOMMMMM

A ball of flames swallowed three of her men.

“AHHAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Emma could not do anything but watch as her men desperately rolled on the ground, burning.

BOOMMMMM

Another Fanatic reached his target, igniting two more of her men.

“FALL BACK TO THE BREACH!” Emma ordered as she mercilessly gunned down her crazed enemy.

Bullets struck the retreating soldiers, killing some and incapacitating others. Those who fell but did not die faced the nozzles of the encroaching Purifiers.

Emma did all she could, providing covering fire for her men while retreating with them. Once at the breach, she directed her men into position.

“I want the heavy machineguns on those walls! Set up a kill-zone facing the northwest. Riflemen, spread out behind cover and focus fire on those Fanatics. I want chest shots!” Emma’s gaze fell upon a limping soldier. “Report, Esquire.”

“Knight, heavy losses in all platoons. W-We had to leave most of the injured behind.” The soldier trembled as he spoke.

“Are the Explosive Teams still alive?”

“Y-Yes, Knight. Bu-”

“Bring them here.” As soon as Emma completed her order, the man ran off. Emma pressed on her earpiece. “Knight Emma to Diversionary Teams, how are you guys holding up?”

“Not good, Knight, getting roasted out here.”

“Where’s Knight Mason?” Emma questioned for she did not recognize the voice that had responded to her.

“Dead. Poor bastard got hit by a stray.”

Referring to a Knight with a derogatory term warranted punishment. However, in their current situation, Emma could not care less.

“Retreat and regroup.”

“As you command, Knight.”

Emma’s focus returned to the men before her.

“Explosive Teams reporting in.” The woman in front of Emma pounded her fist to her chest as a salute.

Only five out of the eight original members survived.

“Hide the charges on those fuel tanks. On my signal, blow them all to Hell.”

“But Knight, our orders were to-”

“Our orders were to capture the facility under all costs.”

“As you command, Knight.” The five individuals quickly sprung to work, setting explosives on the fuel tanks that stood between them and their enemies.

“How many more rounds remaining?!” Emma faced the heavy machinegun teams.

They checked their ammo boxes before responding.

“Four hundred more rounds, Knight.”

Emma secluded herself in thought for a second.

“Save your ammo for the Purifiers, leave the Fanatics and their grunts to the Riflemen.”

The men pounded their chests and spoke.

“May the Ancients grant us blessings, Knight.”

Emma glanced at the distant corpses.

“I grant my own blessings.”

...

After a short while, the explosive teams completed their task of setting the charges and returned to defensive positions. The Cultists had chosen to reorganize for a final push to clear Emma and her men out of the compound.

Seeing that the morale of the survivors plummeted with each passing minute, Emma decided that it was necessary to strengthen the resolve of her men. Standing on an elevated portion of the wall, she gave her rousing speech.

“BROTHERS AND SISTERS! DO NOT LET YOUR WILL FALTER, FOR VICTORY IS WITHIN OUR GRASP! THESE SAVAGES KNOW NOTHING BUT TO THROW THEMSELVES INTO DEATH’S REACH! WE ARE DIFFERENT, FOR WE ARE THE DIRECT DESCENDANTS OF THE ANCIENTS, GODS OF OLD WHOSE LEGACY COULD BE WITNESSED ENDLESSLY THROUGHOUT HISTORY AND TIME! THE ANCIENTS SMILE UPON US AS WE RESTORE THEIR GLORIES WITH VICTORIES. AND, I PROMISE YOU. WE. WILL. BE. VICTORIOUS!”

With her right arm, Emma raised her primary rifle.

“I SWEAR IT UPON MY HONOR!”

With a deep breath, Emma cheered with all her might.

“OOOORAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

OOOORAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Every soldier, wounded or shaken, shouted at the top of their lungs in unison, creating a roar that quaked the planet itself.

“INCOMING!” One of her soldiers screamed as Cultists appeared in their line of sight. The Fanatics, once again, recklessly charged at the defensive positions. With renewed vigor, Emma and her rifleman squads gunned down the approaching human bombs. Countless Fanatics fell but countless more replaced their fallen allies. One managed to slip past the wall of gunfire and came dangerously close to some of the frontline positions.

“I-I DIE FOR M-”

POOM

With the silencer detached, Emma’s rifle emitted its full sound as she sniped the Fanatic’s explosive.

BOOMMM

The Fanatic burst into flames.

Emma and her men continued firing on the onslaught of crazed zealots. The continuous fire of the heavy machine guns kept the devastating Purifiers from advancing beyond the fuel tanks. When a large portion of the Purifiers approached the range of the boobytrapped containers, Emma signaled the explosive teams with her command.

“NOW!”

Click.

BBBWWWWOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM

The massive cloud of blinding gas lit up the dark sky as the heat wave rushed in all directions nearly burning Emma and her men. The ominous mushroom cloud that followed slowly ascended into the heavens as if it had harvested the unfortunate souls caught within the blast. When enough of the smoke cleared for the clouds to be transparent, only a single Purifier could be sighted. He remained still, 120 meters away, on his knees, stunned, and in a state of shock.

Emma held her breath and aimed her rifle at the small eye slits within the Purifier’s iron mask.

POOM

The Purifier’s body fell lifelessly to the ground.

“CHARGEEEE!” With Emma’s order, what remained of her company dashed through the facility, clearing every building in sight. Since their guards were devastated, the Cultists could only produce minimal resistance as the last of their forces fell to the oncoming onslaught.

Emma arrived at the main building with a squad of four. They entered the structure after knocking down the main entrance with a powerful kick. The group swept each room, making sure that no hostiles remained. Documents were scattered all over the floor, some shredded but most were intact. They continued their coordinated drill until they had reached the uppermost floor. A large closed door sat between Emma and the command center of the facility. Her men got in position, with Emma’s signal, they rushed into the room only to find five unresponsive bodies endowed in elaborate robes. Each had a knife sticking out of their necks, indicating suicide. After ensuring that the building was cleared, she let out a sigh of relief as she pressed on her earpiece.

“This is Knight Emma, the facility is ours.”