I place my bullet between his hazel eyes, and three more in each droid behind him. Not today, bitch.
A Lethe enforcer above spots me and my moment is over. Must’ve seen my muzzle flash.
Hell flies from their cannons into the open window I’m sprinting away from. Its missile explodes taking a massive bite out the wall protecting us.
Through the smoke and rubble, I see another two enforcers closing in. They both float, hammering the remnants of this building with their heavy-caliber machine guns, backing us into the corner closest to the stairwell. Spent brass rains to the ground under them like giant, golden raindrops as bullets tear through the walls.
Vulcan, forced to abandon his sniper position, grabs the gravity launcher leaned on the back wall and aims the barrel through the new opening.
He fires, hitting his mark. The shuttle’s sucked into the cyan orb attached to its tail. The sound of ripping metal, and shattering glass roars momentarily over the gunfire.
The second enforcer attempts to steady itself, avoiding the pull from the gravity orb. It fires a line of lead through the broken outer wall of this place, splintering furniture, throwing debris.
Sliding past the onslaught, I make it behind the half wall he’s shredding into, getting as close as possible to him, keeping low
Steadily, I detach one of the scorpions linked to my belt, a glossy black sphere with three red prongs stemming from the rear. A single button on the front. Doesn’t look very friendly. I’m counting on it to not be.
Pressing the red button, I heave it at the Lethe enforcer.
It clamps to the nose of the shuttle, does nothing for a second, then explodes, tearing the cockpit out of the enforcer.
The shuttle falls from the air ablaze, crashing into one of the turrets below, sliding down the far side stairs to the square. Two more turrets left
“Holy shit! Did you see that?” I ask, jerking back around. “Vulcan…” my voice cracks.
He’s on his back, lifeless in a puddle of his own blood.
Another missile strikes the remains of the wall, this time reducing it to smoke and rubble. It collapses over his gravity launcher as gunfire from the energy turrets outside slam through.
Their focus is me now.
Fragments of rock become shrapnel. Glass cuts through the air as well as any blade. Debris of all sizes rains down and the faux-brick cladding of the stairwell shatters, casting red dust and projectiles into the air around me.
I leave him lying there, sprinting downstairs and out the door I came in. The building rumbles behind, ready to collapse at any second.
Outside, fighters soar through the sky. Kronos gunships struggle against the remaining two energy turrets on the front and a fleet of enforcers plucking them out of the air. The tracers from their guns, like a meteor shower ignite the early morning.
“Watch out!!” someone screams from behind, then I’m tackled, sliding across the pavement.
The flaming wing of a shuttle smashes to the concrete where I was just standing, cartwheeling through the square like a wrecking ball.
The rest of the screeching Lethe enforcer spiral crashes into the building across the battlefield, exploding into a ball of fire and smoke.
“Niko?”
“Stay down!” he orders, pushing my face to the ground.
A burst of particle rays tears through the top of the concrete barrier protecting us, as something explodes over my shoulder.The fire from the wreckage spreads to the adjacent floors of the skyscraper it collided into with haste, engulfing the entire bottom half of the building.
Lethe is pushing our militia back. There are far too many of them. They’ve split us down the middle and we’ve already lost at least half of our people. We have to take out those turrets and fast if we’re going to stand a chance.
Gunfire continues hammering the ground around us.
Another burst from the energy turret rips two of our men in half right in front of me. Somehow the smell is worse than the sight of it.
Selene and Hector have moved up. Pushing behind enemy lines, trying to get a shot at the turrets. Suicide mission.
“Cover me!” orders Niko, disappearing into the smoke starting to take the low ground
I stand, rifle steadied on the barrier, and empty my mag into the horde of advancing droids, clearing a path for him.
Rockets from Lethe enforcers continue to strike the building next to me with every roaring pass. It’s beginning to collapse from within. There’s no way it can handle the damage.
One of their turrets blasts the ground in front of me, splashing rock and energy fragments through in the air.
Taking cover just in time, I dive behind the only thing between me and their bullets, my concrete barrier. Only a matter of time before it too gives to the force of Lethe.
The building beside me whines, tilting slowly.
Sounds of bending metal grumble from inside.
The bottom floors can’t handle the weight.
Without regard for enemy fire, I run.
“It’s going to fall!”
In my peripheral a crack flashes across the cerement base of the tower, splitting it in two. The inside floors collapse on each other, crumbling to rubble and debris.
The top of the building leans away from Lethe Tower, whipping the neighboring skyscraper, the one Poth lives in. It scrapes to the ground and pushes a thick cloud of smoke over the battlefield as it dissolves to ash and dust. Its dying roar mutes all else.
The terror of gunfire slows temporarily, as the remains of another fallen building steadily crash to the ground on itself still ablaze. The fire rages through the smoke, burning violent shades of orange and yellow.
I make it to the concrete rise where Niko was just taking cover. Damage from the anniversary attack is still visible.
A pack of droids leap past me, on all fours, like mechanical beasts, firing into the surrounding buildings still standing around the square. Only their
