Guardian Angel (2 page)

The Resistance had even been known to trade with Separatists on a regular basis, giving lower-end weaponry in exchange for the one luxury they couldn't get enough of. Food. They had very little ability to grow their own food inside the asphalt grid of Washington City, so it was a deal that worked for both parties involved. They would scavenge from the dead after battle, trading anything they had plenty of to Separatists with large farms. Separatists who had an abundance of food, but the desperate need for weaponry in order to keep themselves safe.

Some Separatists had even started forming their own governments, each fighting for their own home and their own flag. It was the biggest difference between being considered a Separatist or Resistance sworn. Separatists had accepted defeat at the hands of Ancients, now focusing their attention to organizing those around them and living in peace. Those for the Resistance, however, remained focused on the survival of Humanity. A world that once was.

There was no true government in place when it came to the Resistance. The surviving military helped survivors throughout the city, distributing food and supplies routinely and asking that those who were capable of doing so, assist them with maintaining a safe environment. It was this very request, which saw groups of lamplighters do so every evening. Groups, which usually numbered near a dozen, openly patrolled the city streets. They were armed men who had sworn to help an already taxed military force, policing the streets and offering assistance to any citizen who needed it.

Larger buildings in Washington City had been designated for military use, which meant there was a guaranteed place to sleep, hot meals and fresh clothing for those who volunteered to take up arms against the Ancients. Alicia Lucard was one such person. She had been with the Resistance since the death of everyone who had ever mattered to her. With no place to go and no one else who seemed to give a damn, she joined the open arms of a Resistance force.

They had taken an accountant, a worn-down woman with no understanding of handling a weapon, and turned her into a trained killer. Her hate for the Ancients and what they had done to change her life forever, bled into a kind of hatred that was rarely seen. And, in fact, was the biggest reason she had become so deadly, swiftly moving through the ranks of those around her.

Alicia was widely regarded as one of the greatest soldiers left on Earth, having sent over a thousand extraterrestrial warriors to a very Human hell below. But even with the ruin of destruction surrounding her at every turn, Alica still took the time to admire that which was beautiful.

Be it the bursting lights of color above, a snowfall blanketing lamps of candle wax on the streets or Humanity's ability to pull together and help those around them in need. In Alicia's eyes, beauty was beauty.

So that was the normal sight in Washington City, large fortresses of the sky departing for trade, while others, many filled with supplies, would land and distribute according to need. Smaller airships would also traffic themselves, filled with strike teams of soldiers who tried to hinder the Ancient war efforts anytime they could. But today brought a different sight, one that was rarely seen.

Today's incoming ship from Berlin was anything but standard, or so Alicia's team would soon find out. A loud bell began ringing throughout the city, making all military personnel aware of an incoming airship, one bearing the flag of the German Resistance as it began to quickly descend.

It was more of a sky armada, the huge galleon of aged wood and brass molding coasting down, visible guns mounted in various places. It was odd to see such a war-capable ship landing in Washington City, at least one that brandished the flag of German Resistance.
             

Alicia's attention was captured for a moment by the revolving Gatling guns that were placed near the landing area of the city. They were primitive, not to mention steam powered, but inside of the Guardian Angel where modern technology simply wouldn't work, they were a damn solid line of defense.

“What do you think this is all about?” Calypso asked the group, all of them keeping their eyes on the airship which had landed and was being anchored down.

It was obvious within an instant that this was no ordinary transport. The markings were a bit different, which let the entire group know it wasn't a trade ship. It carried higher ranking officials from the German Resistance. The question each of them pondered was why?

“Who gives a damn. It's just our job to hold their hands and walk them into the command center.” Alicia replied, G breaking his stare to watch four airships bearing the United States Resistance flag take flight.

After the initial invasion, the United States of America simply became known as the Resistance. Rightfully so, the flag had been redesigned to fit the times. Every faction which had dedicated itself to the fight against Ancients, had the same design. A white flag with a single, large star on its middle. The star contained a reminder of the country or area that once was. In this case, the large star contained stripes of red, white and blue.

It had been designed that way for a single reason. Unity. It symbolized a single cause, or star, against the Ancients. The Germans had placed the colors of their original flag into the star of their Resistance flag, and other factions, smaller factions who had sided with the Resistance, had used the same design as well, placing their own colors inside of the star.

No matter a soldier's country, origin or current mission, he or she could be sure of one thing. When a single-star flag was nearby, it was a place which shared a common goal. Defeating the Ancients at all costs.

And so the airships took flight, none of them heading into the direction of Berlin, which meant they were either being dispatched to trade for needed supplies or to recruit new soldiers in the war against the Ancients.

Nearly a dozen heavily armed soldiers were first to exit the German Resistance marked air fortress, fully uniformed as they stepped cautiously from the stained wooden deck of the ship onto the hard pavement of the landing zone.

It was a huge area, formerly a parking lot that was set up near what had once been a large outdoor sports stadium. Back before hunting Ancients for the survival of the Human race had become the one and only sport that mattered. As the soldiers looked thoroughly across the surroundings, they motioned for the remainder of the passengers to join them.

“Must be pretty damn important for them to arrive with such a large security detail.” G muttered.

“Must be.” Alicia agreed.

He was right, normally an escort group consisted of only two soldiers. The idea was, if you ran across a group of Ancients, you were more than likely dead anyway. So large of an escort meant that the Germans wanted whoever was aboard the airship to damn well arrive in good condition.

When Nadia Jacobson first exited the ship, Alicia's group stood speechless. Tight black military grade pants topped off her solid gray shirt. Their full attention began to shift to her brilliant blonde hair as Nadia casually stepped onto the blacktop. Her lipstick a darker red tint, seemingly shimmering in only the faint light of day as she glanced into the direction of Alicia's group for a moment before turning back to watch her companions.

Preacher was the next to find his footing on solid ground. Alfons Scheper was anything but a holy man, earning his name from the large, Heaven-Six model sniper rifle that he chose to wield. It was man-sized, standing nearly six feet tall(a fact which earned it the name) as the stock of the weapon easily rested on the pavement. His short white hair was soon forgotten in favor of his scarring and leather-like skin. It was obvious to all onlookers that he had earned his keep in a war against the Ancients, and he carried a stone-faced grin to prove it.

Alicia's group began to walk forward to meet them when the third and final passenger of great importance jumped to the ground, falling only a couple of feet as his solid black boots hit the hardtop with a loud thud. Instantly, guns were on him, Alicia's pistols the first to take aim on the Ancient soldier as Calypso and G quickly followed suit.

“Stop, he's with us!” Nadia yelled loudly, stepping into the line of fire to protect Certes.

Without so much as a whisper, Alicia pushed the safety on both pistols to live fire, continuing her dead stare with the demon as Preacher and Nadia reluctantly pulled their weapons up to take aim on Alicia's team.

“Put your weapons down, or I swear by all that nobody will walk away from this.” Nadia said calmly, her words accented thick with German influence.

“I dunno, I've walked away from a lot better.” Alicia replied with sarcasm.

“There are no better.” Nadia replied quickly, steadily holding her chrome pistol in Alicia's direction. It was polished to a shine that led to believe it had never been used, a smooth wooden grip handle accenting it.

“Alicia! Put down your weapons this instant!” a man yelled as he briskly ran to them on foot.

Wearing a thick brown coat of leather and boots to match, his green eyes cut into her through glass lenses as he held an arm out and motioned for them to holster their weapons.

“For God's sake Alicia, I asked you to escort Nadia's group into the command center, not draw down on them!” he said sternly.

“You never mentioned they would have an Ancient with them.” Alicia replied as she continued to hold the unwelcome alien at gunpoint.

“I don't have to explain myself to you! It's one of the perks of being your commanding officer. Now put the damn guns away!” Commander Snelling shouted.

Seconds later, Alicia slowly holstered her pistols with a single motion, quickly followed by the members of her team.

“My apologies Nadia, I assure you I had nothing to do with your team being put into danger.” the man said apologetically.

“My team was never in any danger.” Nadia replied delightfully, quickly turning her attention from Snelling to Alicia and looking through her as if she weren't there.

The group had started to walk into the direction of the command center, which had formerly been known as the Washington Monument. After Invasion Day, however, it had been designated for military conversations of a sensitive matter.

“I think I'm in love.” Calypso said quietly, his eyes locked onto the curved backside of Nadia Jacobson and his mind on her attitude.

“Shut up Calypso.” Alicia said, glancing at him for a moment before the three followed the group up the steps and into the meeting.

“It's imperative that your group makes it to Texas.” one of the Resistance advisers said, directing the comment to Commander Snelling.

“What's in Texas?” Alicia whispered under her breath to both Calypso and G as they stood in the rear of the meeting, which included nearly a hundred top Resistance officials.

“Lackland Air Force Base. Or at least what remains of it.” Nadia Jacobson said loudly, glancing into Alicia's direction as the entire room turned to face her.

Giving both G and Calypso a quick glance of disbelief, Alicia turned back to face the woman who had an unbelievable knack for hearing.

“And when we get there?” Alicia finally responded, letting the blonde bombshell know up front that her team could accomplish anything.

“Our sources have confirmed that the Ancients are holding a power cell there. We need you to retrieve it and bring it back.” Commander Snelling said.

“Holding a power cell?” G asked, a rare vocal appearance on his part.

“They are using it to power one of their forward operating bases.” a government adviser replied, wearing his tuxedo style overcoat with black and gray pinstriped hat.

“So you want us to infiltrate an Ancient forward operating base, steal their only source of power and then slip out unnoticed in hopes of beating them back here?” Alicia asked, stunned by what had just been thrown onto her plate.

No replies came for a few tense moments.

“And there's gonna be Ancients there?” Calypso asked.

“Of course there are going to be Ancients there!” Alicia said under her breath as she forcefully slapped him across the upper arm.

“Don't worry, my team will be going along to assist you.” Nadia Jacobson said proudly.

“My only worry was for the unfortunate Ancients who get in the way,” Alicia replied loudly. She then added “bitch” under her breath, knowing Nadia would surely hear her.

“You will also have full support from the Norfolk Naval Base. They consider this a top priority mission.” Commander Snelling added, trying to reassure his team.

“Naval base?” Preacher asked.

“Yes. The Ancients pushed what remained of the American people into the protection of Guardian Angel. As we watched and waited from the streets of Washington City, they systematically destroyed every single military base in the country. One by one they fell, until the Ancients hit Norfolk Naval Base. The remaining U.S. Forces continued to fall back until they were all in and around Norfolk, and when the Ancients showed up for business as usual they got their asses handed to them.” Commander Snelling replied.

“Our army doesn't have the manpower to push its way back out into what remains of the United States, but we do have plenty to hold Norfolk, even without the protection of a Guardian Angel system there.” he added.

“Impressive,” Nadia said. “In Germany, we are not so fortunate. What remains of our military has been reduced to armored Tank divisions and foot soldiers. Nothing outside of the Berlin Safe Zone is free of Ancients.” She added.