Epiphany
Proverbs 17:9
9:01am, June 13th...109 PA
It wasn't easy and they didn't make it easy. Once, you might have ambushed them or unleashed supernatural power they'd never imagined before but there's pitifully few surprises left this far into the war. No, the Coalition Platoon was smart. A forward fireteam performing reconnaissance for the five fireteams trailing behind to attack and clear buildings. They had a Psi-Stalker and a pair of Dog Boys for early warning. Their rifle teams included three riflemen using CP-40 Pulse Laser Rifles centered around a fourth packing a CP-50 "Dragonfire" Assault Pulse Laser and Grenade Launcher. A heavy weapons element included a full-conversion cyborg packing a CTT-P40 Particle Beam Cannon, a pair of C-29 "Hellfire" Heavy Plasma Cannon operators and a last with a CTT-M20 Missile Rifle with anti-armor/anti-aircraft capabilities.
No, it wasn't easy and they did not go down easy at all. Flames lick the battered, broken frames of the apartment complexes on either side of Irving Avenue, casualties of particle beams, plasma and incendiary ammunition. If there was a divine force for good in the universe, hopefully there weren't any more civilians still huddled up in those buildings. There was no operable fire and rescue service in Tolkeen anymore. Ambulance crews continued to operate where they could but they'd begun treating people in the field, as every remaining hospital and clinic was at capacity and beyond.
Most of you have been wounded too. There's a hospital half a mile away, North Memorial over on Oakdale Avenue but there's a dozen fights or more between your group and the Coalition to get there.
The walls of Tolkeen fell yesterday. First the north, owing to a surprise attack from who you now know was General Jericho Holmes. That's what took out the Triangle Defense System and disrupted the ley lines, rendering them impossible to use for teleportation or transit. It's been chaos ever since. A city this big, it'll take days to conquer and it already feels like it's been days since you last slept at all.
A sudden roar from above rolls across the street, a sonic compression wave you can physically feel. There's just enough time to realize those are Medium Range Missiles, coming in at a good 1200 miles per hour, before they strike home...on North Memorial Hospital, unquestionably their target. Another horror in a long string of horrors, just one more utter and absolute war crime committed by people who'd long ago signed away their humanity.
The faint blue of the Ley Line running through Tolkeen, barely perceptible in the morning light, suddenly roils and seizes. You've seen that before too, proof that there must have been hundreds if not thousands of people in that hospital when it blew. A PPE-driven shockwave reverberates outward along the Ley Line, coming your way. It'll mean space and time distortions, monsters appearing suddenly or God knows what.
It won't save you or anyone from the certain death of Tolkeen. Nothing can save Tolkeen now. Nothing can save you, either.
9:01am, June 13th...101 PA
"...the Campaign for Unity. Imagine the gall of Emperor Prosek, to claim that bringing armies to siege good, innocent people in their very homes could ever unite anyone! No, it's in Tolkeen true unity exists! Tolkeen and Lazlo and New Lazlo, in every kingdom of this great land of ours where people take the hands of others unlike themselves and join in common purpose!"
Your hearing arrives first. Or perhaps all your senses register where you're at but it's the words of the speech that most immediately catch attention. There's a familiar cadence to them. Although it's been years, these are words you've heard before. Delivered by a voice you've heard a thousand times, unmistakably the voice of King Robert Creed.
And there he stands, still speaking. But at that moment, the immediacy of the moment presses in on you.
Thousands of Tolkeen's populace surround you. Most seated in tiers ascending towards the arching high walls. The smell of gunpowder, napalm, burning wood and the sweet, sickly flesh of blasted bodies is gone now. Replaced by...popcorn. Cloth, wood, leather. Beyond, the breezes coming off of the Mississippi River which is less than a third of a mile away. Banners of Tolkeen sway in the morning breeze as the sun shines down on a fine assembly, the way people used to gather in years past to hear the pronouncements of the Circle of Twelve and their chosen leader, King Robert Creed.
"Which brings me to the issue at hand. Thirteen years ago, our whole city wept when we lost our beloved king, our champion and protector, Gravander Henchu. Within a month of his passing, the Coalition began deploying garrisons along our borders. I know, I know that many of you hoped to continue King Henchu's policy of peaceful coexistence. I share your wish! But Emperor Prosek does not! The Circle of Twelve chose me to lead our great city because they knew what you all know...beyond our borders lies an enemy who cannot be reasoned with, who will not negotiate, who desires nothing more than our destruction!"
"In the past decade, Tolkeen has welcomed many visitors, from other lands, from other dimensions. A great number have chosen to stay, to live among us, and to help protect our city. The cities of Lazlo and New Lazo also stand with us. And we've long enjoyed an alliance with the noble Cyber-Knights who do so much to keep our country and its peoples safe from evil. I suspect many of you hope these alliances and new citizens will defend us, even fight our battles for us."
"But they won't be enough. To that end, the Circle of Twelve have undertaken the following!"
You know this part. You were here, eight years ago, when the King made these announcements. He's about to unveil the new-in-this-day Iron Juggernauts which have been a mainstay of the last four years of war but no one had ever heard of prior to 101 PA. It seems impossible to see him making them again. But the spellbound audience, caught up in the King's charismatic rhetoric, look as struck by the impending news as ever they were. A swift glance around reveals nearly everyone waiting with bated breath for what comes next.
Everyone, except for a certain few of you. From a distance of eight years, it's hard to remember who you attended this speech with but you certainly remember who you fought beside at the end. They're here too. Are they looking your way, the way you're looking theirs?
